Threat of Medicaid cuts looms over GOP lawmakers

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : Skip to end of carousel Trump presidency Follow live updates on the Trump administration.
56% : Leadership and relevant committee chairs told skeptical lawmakers this week that they will be part of a process that protects Medicaid and other programs.
51% : Medicaid provides health coverage for roughly 1 in 5 Americans, and significant cuts to social safety net programs could hurt swing-district House Republicans, particularly those who represent lower-income communities.
49% : Well over half of his constituents use Medicaid.
48% : Even if the Energy and Commerce Committee slashed all the other spending under its purview, that wouldn't get it to $880 billion, said Edwin Park, a research professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy who has examined the GOP's proposals closely. Republicans have floated many possible changes to Medicaid, including various ways to shift more of the program's financial burden to states.
47% : Medicaid has also been a focus of recent protests at lawmakers' offices around the country.
46% : Republicans note that the budget resolution passed Tuesday sets only the parameters for a long negotiation ahead -- but it calls for $880 billion in cuts to spending overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Medicaid and Medicare make up the vast majority of what that committee could slash. Republican and Democratic leadership alike have sworn off cuts to Medicare, which provides health coverage for the elderly.
45% : "I've heard from countless constituents who tell me the only way they can afford health care is through programs like Medicaid, and I will not support a final reconciliation bill that risks leaving them behind," Rep. David G. Valadao (R-California), a top target for Democrats, said from the House floor.
44% : "Last night's vote was important, but that was just the beginning," said Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who has urged leadership to stay away from Medicaid.
44% : That leaves Medicaid.
39% : "There are still plans to have reforms to Medicaid so that it's not being defrauded," said Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who chairs the Budget Committee.
38% : She dismissed some lawmakers' claims they can avoid cuts to Medicaid.
36% : "Work requirements, I think, is something that we can get every Republican to agree on," said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), who has warned against major cuts to Medicaid.
36% : Hawley said he is open to restructuring Medicaid but has concerns about "anything that results in cuts to actual work beneficiaries." "Medicaid is monstrously important in West Virginia, that's for sure," said Sen. Jim Justice (R-West Virginia).
33% : "Millions of Americans depend on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and I will have no part in cutting these programs for the folks that are legally entitled to them," echoed Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin), another congressman from a battleground district, in a statement.
29% : Van Drew said on Wednesday that he voted for the budget resolution because Trump appears "100 percent committed to keeping Medicaid other than waste, fraud and abuse."
23% : Possible changes have become a headache for the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress and have handed Democrats a potent issue Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew (New Jersey) called President Donald Trump this week with a warning: The House GOP's framework for enacting Trump's agenda would almost certainly require cuts to Medicaid and open the party up to devastating attacks.
11% : Now, we are going to look for fraud," Trump said Wednesday when asked about Medicaid.

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