As House GOP Reelects Johnson as Speaker, Coalition Says Hands Off Medicaid
Hundreds of advocacy organizations warned lawmakers that "enacting Medicaid cuts would betray your constituents of all political affiliations who are seeking more economic security, not less."
As Rep. Mike Johnson won reelection as House speaker on Friday, a broad coalition of more than 300 advocacy organizations warned the incoming Republican-controlled Congress against cutting Medicaid amid reports that the GOP is eyeing work requirements and other damaging changes to the program that provides healthcare coverage to around 80 million Americans.
In a letter to the congressional leaders of both parties, Families USA, the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, Doctors for America, the NAACP, and other national and state-level organizations wrote that "cutting Medicaid was not a budget solution that American families asked for" during the 2024 election cycle.
"Doing so now would betray your constituents of all political affiliations who are seeking more economic security, not less," the groups continued. "Cutting Medicaid would shift costs and administrative burdens onto working-class families, states, and health systems. Proposals to cap funding, reduce the federal share of Medicaid spending, establish block grants, institute work reporting and community engagement requirements, cut state revenue from provider taxes, or otherwise undermine the fundamental structure of the Medicaid program all have the same effect."
"If instituted," they added, "Americans will lose access to lifesaving services, states will be strapped with massive budget holes, hospitals and clinics will lose revenues and be forced to cut staff and scale back services, and American families and workers will be unable to afford essential care and get sicker—leading to a loss in productivity and the economy suffering as a result."
"The American people are watching... and we urge you to take this opportunity to choose a different path: one that secures our country's health and economy."
The letter was sent as House members gathered on the floor of the chamber and voted to keep Johnson (R-La.) as speaker in the new Congress.
Once members are sworn in, Republicans are expected to pursue a massive tax-cut package that they will seek to fund by slashing key social programs, including Medicaid.
GOP lawmakers have discussed imposing work requirements on Medicaid recipients as part of a broader effort to offset the enormous costs of another round of tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy and large corporations.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Medicaid work requirements, which typically entail difficult-to-navigate bureaucratic procedures, would cause roughly 600,000 people to lose insurance.
Shortly after the November election, The New York Timesreported that "some Republican legislators are interested in even more sweeping changes, such as turning Medicaid into a block grant program, which would keep federal costs fixed even if more people sign up for coverage."
Edwin Park, a research Professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy's Center for Children and Families, warned in a November blog post that turning Medicaid into a block grant program would be "deeply harmful."
"To compensate for the severe federal funding cuts resulting from block grants," Park wrote, "states will either have to dramatically raise taxes and drastically cut other parts of their budget including K-12 education or, as is far more likely, institute deep, damaging cuts to Medicaid eligibility, benefits, and provider and plan payment rates."
"That includes not just dropping the Medicaid expansion, which covers nearly 20 million newly eligible parents and other adults, but gutting the rest of state Medicaid programs that serve tens of millions of low-income children, parents, people with disabilities, and seniors," Park continued.
In their letter on Friday, the advocacy coalition reminded congressional leaders that "millions upon millions of Americans rose up" in opposition to the GOP's failed attempt to cut Medicaid in 2017.
"The American people are watching once again," the groups wrote, "and we urge you to take this opportunity to choose a different path: one that secures our country's health and economy."
