House GOP backing off some Medicaid cuts as report shows millions of people would lose health care

By LISA MASCARO and AMANDA SEITZ WASHINGTON AP House Republicans appear to be backing off several but not all of the steep reductions to the Medicaid operation as part of their big tax breaks bill as they run into resistance from more centrist GOP lawmakers opposed to ending nearly-free strength care coverage for their constituents back home Related Articles Republican concedes long-unsettled North Carolina court poll to Democratic incumbent FAA fixing problems at Newark airport while planning overhaul of US air traffic control system The more Trump talks about making business deals the more confusing the tariff picture gets Federal judge orders Trump administration to unblock pandemic relief money for schools House Republicans push to sell thousands of acres of inhabitants lands in the West This is as a new statement out Wednesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that millions of Americans would lose Medicaid coverage under the various proposals being circulated by Republicans as cost-saving measures House Republicans are scrounging to come up with as much as trillion in cuts across federal regime physical condition food stamp and other programs to offset the revenue lost for particular trillion in tax breaks Under each of those options Medicaid enrollment would decrease and the number of people without strength insurance would increase the CBO overview explained The findings touched off fresh uncertainty over House Speaker Mike Johnson s ability to pass what President Donald Trump calls his big beautiful bill by a self-made Memorial Day deadline Lawmakers are increasingly uneasy particularly amid growing economic anxiety over Trump s own policies including the deal war that is sparking risks of higher prices empty shelves and job losses in communities nationwide Central to the package is the GOP priority of extending tax breaks first enacted in that are expiring later this year But they want to impose initiative cuts elsewhere to help pay for them and limit the continued climb in the nation s debt and deficits Johnson has been huddling privately all week in the speaker s office at the Capitol with groups of Republicans particularly the more moderate GOP lawmakers in particular of the bulk contested seats in the nation who are warning off steep cuts that would slash through their districts Democrats who had requested the CBO review pounced on the findings This non-partisan Congressional Budget Office analysis confirms what we ve been saying all along Republicans Medicaid proposals end in millions of people losing their vitality care reported Rep Frank Pallone D-N J who sought the review with Sen Ron Wyden D-Ore House Republican lawmakers exiting a meeting late Tuesday evening indicated that Johnson and the GOP leadership were walking away from several of the the majority debated Medicaid changes to the federal matching fund rates provided to the states Rep Jeff Van Drew R-N J disclosed those Medicaid changes are dead Republican Rep Nick LaLota of New York reminded that Trump himself has reported he would oppose Medicaid cuts Instead he noted the growing consensus within the Republican ranks is to focus the Medicaid cuts on other provisions Among the other ideas LaLota disclosed are imposing work requirements for those receiving Medicaid coverage requiring recipients to verify their eligibility twice a year instead of just once and ensuring no immigrants who are in the U S without legal standing are receiving aid But the more conservative Republicans including members of the House Freedom Caucus are insisting on steeper cuts as they fight to prevent skyrocketing deficits from the tax breaks Medicaid is a joint project run by states and the federal administration covering million adults Republicans are considering a menu of options to cut federal spending on the operation including reducing the share that the federal regime pays for enrollees soundness care in chosen cases it is as much as They are also considering and setting a cap on how much the federal regime spends on each person enrolled in Medicaid though that idea also appears to be losing sponsorship among lawmakers While those changes would bring in billions of dollars in cost savings they would also upshot in roughly million people losing Medicaid coverage the CBO disclosed They appear to be off the table But other proposed Medicaid changes are still in the mix for Republicans including imposing new limits on a state s tax on wellness care providers that generate larger payments from the federal establishment That would bring in billions in savings but could also product in particular million people losing coverage the statement announced