STAT+: GOP works through unresolved issues on Medicaid work requirements
House Republicans are advancing a budget reconciliation bill with $700 billion in Medicaid savings, but still undecided is what year work requirements would begin.
WASHINGTON — Over the weekend, House Republicans discussed squeezing additional savings from Medicaid to pay for President Trump’s tax cuts. Medicaid policy remains one of the main unresolved areas of House Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill.
On late Sunday night, Republicans on the House Budget Committee passed a reconciliation bill with more than $700 billion in federal funding cuts to Medicaid. Those cuts would help pay for the tax cut portion of the reconciliation bill that would cost $3.7 trillion over the next decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
It wasn’t an easy task. The committee failed to pass the same bill on Friday, prompting the rare Sunday committee markup. Four Republicans who had voted against the bill on Friday were still unhappy with the bill on Sunday evening. But Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Josh Brecheen (Okla.), Ralph Norman (S.C.) and Andrew Clyde (Ga.) voted present, instead of voting yes, which allowed the bill to pass while making clear they still have reservations. The far-right House Freedom Caucus, of which the four lawmakers are members, said the bill “does not yet meet the moment.”
