More and more Medicaid votes for Republicans, the result of President Donald Trump’s success in attracting low-income voters. So why has the Republican Party slashed health insurance plans in depth within its mega-range?
Three reasons: Republicans desperately need money to avoid a substantial tax increase next year, they want to withdraw Biden-era policies, Republican lawmakers say, leading to loose eligibility checks and more fraudulent welfare claims, and they want to curb Medicaid expansion implemented by then-President Barack Obama and the president of Congress in affordable health care services.
Republicans say the bill achieves unsustainable spending by adding job requirements and limiting the tools states use to get more federal dollars instead of the benefits of those who really need them.
“We provide Medicaid for those who need it most: mothers, children, seniors and people with disabilities,” said Brett Guthrie of Kentucky. “Democrats continue to fear and misrepresent the contents of this bill.”
Republican bases now include more working class and low-income people, many of whom have access to health insurance through Medicaid. But the traditional sentiment of many Republican lawmakers towards the Social Security Net program (the handouts it provides for taxpayers a dime) remains largely the same.
Over the past few days and months, it has become increasingly clear as Republican law enacted one of their large beauty bills. The comprehensive legislation – passed Thursday and is now headed to Trump’s desk – includes more than $1 trillion in health care cuts, the vast majority of which come from the federal National Health Insurance Program, which serves more than 70 million low-income Americans.
This helps create budget savings to extend the budget needed to cut tax breaks that former Republican Congress and Trump have formulated in 2017. Otherwise, they will expire at the end of the year.
When Republicans began considering their bill in January, Trump promised “Love and cherish” Medicaid. But he will eventually cut as needed to get the bill passed, lobbying barely Republican delegates and senators to move on.
“Many of the party’s policy agendas still stem from liberals, Ronald Reagan, Paul Ryan [viewpoint]”Economic populism is not fully accepted,” said Jake Haselswerdt, associate professor at the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Missouri.
Only in next year's general election will Republicans face estimates of their new Medicaid-dependent components.
Republicans believe that the cuts that are expected to lose millions of people are not cuts, but are intended to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. Conservatives point out the rapid spending growth and the states’ ability to work hard to withdraw more federal funds. “Medicaid costs are increasing uncontrollably,” the Manhattan Institute think tank said during a promotion of overhaul last year.
The institute's report promotes reforms to protect “mandatory acute care expenditures for the program” while pursuing “expansion of qualifications and benefits at the discretionary level.”
Georgia friend Carter said that's what the Republicans are for, working closely with Guthrie to carry out the House Medicaid rules. “The bill “rescues and maintains Medicaid and provides it to those who really need it,” he said in a debate on Thursday. ”
Past Republicans may have taken a more straightforward approach, suggesting block grants to limit federal spending or eliminating Obamacare expansion. Republican lawmakers did consider these options, but chose to provide job requirements for some in the program and crack down on loopholes they say states and hospitals are abused to enrich themselves with more federal funding.
“They have such reasons to hunt down waste, fraud and abuse, so you can say that the politics of Medicaid really affects them,” Haselswerdt said. “It does change the window of possibility. But obviously, the window of possible still includes very considerable cuts.”
Republicans say these changes are desperate to reverse the problems of the Biden administration. They noted that during Joe Biden’s tenure, the coverage exploded.
“Policies in the Biden era have led to huge enrollment for unqualified people and payments through Medicaid far exceed Medicaid rates,” said Brian Blase, president of the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative think tank.
Tell me to save
The tax rules for large taxes are expensive, and Republicans need to find some ways to offset them—both pacifying the Deficit Eagles and complying with Senate rules that require budget bills to be deficit-neutral within a 10-year window.
Other rights to provide services to older people, such as Medicare and Social Security, are considered politically too risky to touch. Trump said more firmly that he did not reduce the benefits of Medicaid and Social Security in the cornerstone of his first campaign in 2016.
In the case of then-President George W. Bush and then-speaker Paul Ryan, cutting plans for seniors was the third railway that Republicans avoided after being burned.
Policy experts say Republicans also consider the two programs largely as rights received because they are funded by payroll taxes, while many in the party still see Medicaid as handouts, even if most recipients work.
“Social Security and Medicare also obviously have a beneficiary group of older people who are politically active, but politically, Medicaid is more politically pursuing because you're talking about children, poor and disabled people.”
With Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid is one of the only goals Republicans have to find a cut in size to cover the scale needed to pay for Trump’s policy priorities.
“When you have to pay money in the federal budget, there are only a few plans to look at,” said Joel White, a health strategist at GOP. “The money comes in a row.”
News War
In addition to Trump’s reshaping the Republican Party, anyone who cares about politics has been familiar with the Medicaid debate rhetoric over the past few decades.
Republicans say the Medicaid expansion exploded the welfare state, allowing “young people in video games” to be lazy and unable to access taxpayer-funded health care. Republicans are smashing the social safety net to pay for billionaires’ tax cuts, Democrats say.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that an earlier version of the bill will result in $1.1 trillion in health spending cuts over the next decade, while 11.8 million people abandon coverage. After several health clauses were revoked, the House of Representatives’ version was passed Thursday, and the CBO has not yet received updated scores, such as fines for the state to cover undocumented immigration.
Recent polls show that Democrats appear to be winning the messaging war. A June 26 poll by Quinnipiac University found that 55% of voters in the U.S. oppose the bill, while 29% support the voters have no objection. Another poll by the Health Research Group found that 64% of adults in the U.S. oppose the bill, while 35% are favored.
“These deep cuts combined with food and health care, which most people firmly believe is an important benefit, tax cuts for the rich are easy, and Democrats portray Republicans as the kind of ruthless friends of the rich,” Howard said.
White said Republicans have long talked about health care issues and lawmakers must abide by their message that policy changes occur after abuse.
“They can say, ‘If you are a robust adult, you need to work in the community or work voluntarily and get an education,” he said.
White added that Republicans need to explain more clearly why the cuts necessary to strengthen programs for those who really need them, and that those who are launched can get insurance through their employer or the Obamacare exchange.
“All members of Congress need to say what is endangered, it is the integrity and long-term stability of Medicaid,” he said.
