STAT+: House GOP unveils plans to reshape Medicaid
House Republicans have unveiled their plan to reshape Medicaid, looking for cost savings as a way to offset planned tax cuts.
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are proposing cutting some of the federal Medicaid funding that goes to states that provide health coverage to undocumented immigrants.
The policy was included in House Republicans’ plan for reducing Medicaid spending, released late Sunday by the Energy and Commerce Committee. The committee is holding a mark-up Tuesday of its share of the budget reconciliation package that Republicans are using to pass President Trump’s tax cuts and other legislative priorities. It’s aiming to cut government spending by $880 billion over a decade to help pay for part of the increased deficit spending that would result from those tax cuts.
Overall, Republicans said they would not reduce the federal Medicaid funding match rate to states. But for states that provide coverage to undocumented immigrants, the federal share that helps pay for the Medicaid expansion population under the Affordable Care Act would drop from 90% to 80%. Undocumented immigrants are generally not eligible for Medicaid, but some states pay to provide coverage themselves.
