Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick says House Republicans are looking to make severe cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs as they draw up a federal budget.
Republicans, who already have ruled out massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, have turning their attention to siphoning as much as $880 billion from Medicaid over the next decade to help finance $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
“ You hear [Republican House Speaker] Mike Johnson saying, 'oh, Medicaid would not be affected.' There's no Medicaid in the language of the bill. But if you look at the application of the bill, it's impossible to cut $880 billion without touching Medicaid," Cherfilus-McCormick told reporters at a press conference at the Tamarac Community Center on Thursday.
Johnson insisted in a CNN interview that the focus will instead be ferreting out “fraud, waste and abuse" in Medicaid, although it's unlikely to deliver the savings Republicans seek.
States and the federal government jointly pay for Medicaid, which offers nearly-free health care coverage for roughly 80 million poor and disabled Americans, including millions of children. It cost $880 billion to operate in 2023.
Cherfilus-McCormick said programs like SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, could also be cut in the House, which is controlled by a slight Republican majority.
After the press conference, Cherfilus-McCormick held a town hall meeting that was closed to the media.
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