Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who has pushed back against a House proposal to reduce Medicaid spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, says President Trump told him on Monday that the final bill encompassing his domestic agenda will not include any cuts to Medicaid benefits.
“Just had a great talk with President Trump about the Big, Beautiful Bill. He said again, NO MEDICAID BENEFIT CUTS,” Hawley posted on the social media platform X.
That post appeared to prompt a response from Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R), a vocal proponent of adding additional deficit-reducing reforms to the reconciliation bill, who argued that Medicaid needs to stop subsidizing able-bodied adults.
“Just had a great talk with my kids. They said again, STOP BORROWING MONEY TO PROP UP WASTEFUL SPENDING & TO SUBSIDIZE THE ABLE-BODIED OVER THE VULNERABLE,” Roy posted.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated on a preliminary basis that the House bill would cut gross Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by ore than $800 billion over 10 years and reduce Medicaid enrollment by 10.3 million people, according to the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) have also raised concerns about the potential impact of Medicaid spending cuts on constituents and rural hospitals.
