STAT+: Senate Republicans discuss new way to cut Medicaid in Trump’s tax bill

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are considering adding a provision to President Trump’s tax cut bill that would further cut Medicaid, alarming hospitals and potentially squeezing state budgets even further.

The provision would sharply reduce the amount of money the federal government pays into a state’s total Medicaid costs for new beneficiaries in states that expanded their programs under the Affordable Care Act, according to six people familiar with the talks.

The federal government shoulders 90% of the cost of covering people who gained Medicaid under the ACA’s eligibility expansion. The proposal would lower that figure for new enrollees to the rate that the government pays for other Medicaid recipients, which varies by state and is between 50% to 77%.

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