Over a dozen state Republican legislators are sounding the alarm to their federal colleagues about planned cuts to Medicaid.
In a letter addressed to Representatives Tom Emmer, Pete Stauber, Brad Finstad and Michelle Fishbach, the 14 state legislators say the proposed cuts are "contrary to how we Republicans respect the aged and vulnerable."
The letter points out that Medicaid includes services for seniors and those with disabilities, not just health care for the poor, and that nearly 50% who receive Medicaid are children. Congressional Republicans narrowly passed the budget resolution on Tuesday with all four Minnesota Republicans voting yea on it. All four Democrats (Craig, Omar, McColllum, Morrison voted nay).
The state Republicans go on to warn in their letter that there would be no practical way to make up for what's been slashed and still provide the care that is needed.
The letter is signed by six GOP state senators and eight house members.
This comes as Republicans in Washington D.C. are weighing billions of dollars in cuts, including those to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program.
Millions more Americans signed up for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace during the Biden administration, a shift lauded by Democrats as a success.
But Republicans are looking to slash federal spending and offer lucrative tax cuts to corporations and wealthier Americans, now see a big target ripe for trimming. The $880 billion Medicaid program is financed mostly by federal taxpayers, who pick up as much as 80% of the tab in some states. And states, too, have said they’re having trouble financing years of growth and sicker patients who enrolled in Medicaid.
And, with a push from President Donald Trump, House Republicans sent a GOP budget blueprint to passage Tuesday, a step toward delivering his “big, beautiful bill” with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts despite a wall of opposition from Democrats and discomfort among Republicans.
The vote was 217-215, with a single Republican and all Democrats opposed, and the outcome was in jeopardy until the gavel. However, the next steps are long and cumbersome before anything can become law.
Even as they press ahead, Republicans are running into a familiar problem: Slashing federal spending is typically easier said than done. With cuts to the Pentagon and other programs largely off limits, much of the other government outlays go for health care, food stamps, student loans and programs relied on by their constituents.
Several Republican lawmakers worry that scope of the cuts being eyed — particularly some $880 billion over the decade to the committee that handles health care spending, including Medicaid, for example, or $230 billion to the agriculture committee that funds food stamps — will be too harmful to their constituents back home.
GOP leaders insist Medicaid is not specifically listed in the initial 60-page budget framework, which is true. Johnson and his leadership team also told lawmakers they would have plenty of time to debate the details as they shape the final package.
But lawmakers wanted assurances the health care program and others will be protected as the plans are developed and merged with the Senate in the weeks to come.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.