House Republicans unveil Medicaid cuts that Democrats warn will leave millions without care

By LISA MASCARO Associated Press Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON AP House Republicans have unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump s big beautiful bill at least billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of trillion in tax breaks Tallying hundreds of pages the regulation revealed late Sunday is touching off the biggest political fight over wellbeing care since Republicans tried but failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare during Trump s first term in While Republicans insist they are totally rooting out waste fraud and abuse to generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office stated the proposals would reduce the number of people with healthcare care by million over the decade Related Articles US and China take a step back from sky-high tariffs and agree to pause for days for more talks Trump derangement syndrome in The Denver Post opinion pages Letters Local governments in Colorado demanding more accountability from oil and gas US-China tariff talks to continue Sunday an official tells AP as Trump touts great progress made Trump revives then discards then revives again the idea of taxing the rich in big GOP bill Savings like these allow us to use this bill to renew the Trump tax cuts and keep Republicans promise to hardworking middle-class families reported Rep Brett Guthrie of Kentucky the GOP chairman of the Potency and Commerce Committee which handles wellbeing care spending But Democrats mentioned the cuts are shameful and essentially amount to another attempt to repeal Obamacare In no uncertain terms millions of Americans will lose their physical condition care coverage reported Rep Frank Pallone of New Jersey the top Democrat on the panel He disclosed hospitals will close seniors will not be able to access the care they need and premiums will rise for millions of people if this bill passes As Republicans race toward House Speaker Mike Johnson s Memorial Day deadline to pass Trump s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts they are preparing to flood the zone with round-the-clock masses hearings this week on various sections before they are stitched together in what will become a massive package The politics ahead are uncertain More than a dozen House Republicans have communicated Johnson and GOP leaders they will not advocacy cuts to the wellbeing care safety net programs that residents back home depend on Trump himself has shied away from a repeat of his first term vowing there will be no cuts to Medicaid All stated committees in the House have been compiling their sections of the package as Republicans seek at least trillion in savings to help cover the cost of preserving the tax breaks which were approved during Trump s first term and are expiring at the end of the year But the powerful Strength and Commerce Committee has been among the bulk watched The committee was instructed to come up with billion in savings and reached that goal primarily with the soundness care cuts but also by rolling back Biden-era green resource programs The preliminary CBO analysis explained the committee s proposals would reduce the deficit by billion over the decade with at least billion coming from the robustness provisions Central to the savings are changes to Medicaid which provides almost free fitness care to more than million Americans and the Affordable Care Act which has expanded in the years since it was first approved to cover millions more To be eligible for Medicaid there would be new region engagement requirements of at least hours per month of work coaching or provision for able-bodied adults without dependents People would also have to verify their eligibility to be in the scheme twice a year rather than just once This is likely to lead to more churn in the venture and present hurdles for people to stay covered especially if they have to drive far to a local benefits office to verify their income in person But Republicans say it ll ensure that the initiative is administered to those who qualify for it Several states have expanded their Medicaid rosters thanks to federal incentives but the decree would cut a boost that was put in place during the COVID- pandemic Federal funding to the states for immigrants who have not shown proof of citizenship would be prohibited There would be a freeze on the so-called provider tax that certain states use to help pay for large portions of their Medicaid programs The extra tax often leads to higher payments from the federal administration which critics say is a loophole that creates abuse in the system The ability portions of the ordinance run far fewer pages but include rollbacks of climate-change strategies President Joe Biden signed into law in the Inflation Reduction Act It proposes rescinding funds for a range of strength loans and assets programs while providing expedited permitting for natural gas rise and oil pipelines Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz contributed to this summary