Edwin Park
Appearances
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
And with major cuts to Medicaid, the end result is... I think millions of people would lose coverage and millions of additional people would lose access to needed care as a result.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
Unless you're cutting Medicare, and both Speaker Johnson, other House Republican leaders, and President Trump have said that they do not want to cut Medicare. So if you take Medicare off the table, Medicaid constitutes 93% of all mandatory spending that remains.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
It cannot unless you're cutting Medicare, and both Speaker Johnson, other House Republican leaders, and President Trump have said that they do not want to cut Medicare. So if you take Medicare off the table, Medicaid constitutes 93% of all mandatory spending that remains under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
Simply no. If you look at the major Medicaid cut proposals that are under consideration, they're the same proposals that were included in the failed 2017 repeal and replace plans. And they all involve major cost shifts for the cost of Medicaid onto states because of the federal government and states sharing the cost of the program.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
making it harder for states to finance their share of the cost of Medicaid, or imposing more red tape on those who are already working or who aren't able to work because they're disabled, have chronic conditions, they may be caregivers or in school.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
It is not. What he's trying to do is equate a measure that's used in the federal government to assess improper payments. But he's trying to equate these improper payments as fraud. And the vast majority of improper payments are not because the payment shouldn't have been made, but there were some errors in terms of the documentation related to that payment.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
or errors in terms of some of the procedural steps that were taken in making those payments. But there's no finding that that was actually fraud or even payments that should not have been made.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
And I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would save about $120 billion or so in federal Medicaid spending. Far cry from $880 billion. Certainly.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
And the reason that it produces savings is not because it encourages employment or increases hours worked, as the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed, but it's actually about the owner's red tape in terms of reporting your employment, reporting your hours.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
trying to navigate a very complicated process to get an exemption because you're a person with disability or you're in school, you're a caregiver, whatever the exemption may be, this is something that applies to all states, to most non-elderly adults, and as a result, people get disenrolled.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
According to the Congressional Budget Office, one and a half million people would lose coverage under such a work requirement.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
Actually, no. All states but Alaska rely on these provider taxes to finance their share of the cost of Medicaid. And the reason such a proposal would cut federal spending, even though this is about a restriction on what states are able to do, is because states would be unable to replace the lost revenues from these provider taxes. These are assessments on hospitals, nursing homes.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
other health care providers. They've been used under rules that have been in place since the early 1990s. And because they can't replace those revenues, they're not going to be able to maintain their current Medicaid programs. They're going to have to make cuts. So are there ways to ensure that states are in full compliance with these federal rules related to provider taxes? Certainly. But
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
Requiring blunt changes that restrict the ability of states to continue to raise the funds they need to finance Medicaid would result in big cuts that would ultimately harm beneficiaries, whether it's losing their eligibility, they're having to pay more in premiums and cost sharing, they have fewer benefits covered, or they can't find a provider that they need.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
I think millions of people would lose coverage and millions of additional people would lose access to needed care as a result. It's simply the case that these cuts are large, they're significant, and many of the proposals that are being considered to achieve this $880 billion target involve shifting costs to states or making it harder for states to finance their share of the costs of Medicaid.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
So states are essentially left holding the bag. They're going to have to make the painful choices in terms of cutting eligibility, cutting benefits. cutting payments to providers like hospitals and nursing homes that serve Medicaid beneficiaries.
Consider This from NPR
Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise
And in fact, that's one of the reasons it's politically attractive to some federal policymakers is because they're not explicitly cutting Medicaid benefits. They're making states, legislatures, governors have to make the politically difficult choices, the politically painful choices that they'll have no choice but to make. in light of these massive cost shifts that they could face.