Former President Barack Obama has sharply criticized Republicans in Congress for pushing a bill that could strip healthcare from millions of Americans.
“Congressional Republicans are trying to weaken the Affordable Care Act and put millions of people at risk of losing their health care,” Obama said on social media. He urged people to “Call your Senators and tell them we can’t let that happen.”
The bill, which passed the House last month and is now in the Senate, would cut healthcare coverage for 10.7 million people over the next ten years. This is the largest cut to health coverage since Republicans’ failed effort to repeal Obamacare in 2017. But unlike that attempt, they’re hiding the cuts inside a bill meant to extend Trump’s tax breaks.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, 7.6 million people would lose Medicaid coverage, and 3.1 million would lose their insurance through the marketplace. To pay for this, the bill would slash more than $800 billion in healthcare funding over the decade.
The plan would make states check Medicaid eligibility every six months instead of once a year. It would also impose strict work requirements, forcing people to work 80 hours a month to keep coverage, and shorten sign-up periods. These rules could push many people off Medicaid.
Most people on Medicaid already work. Research from KFF shows only 8% of healthy adults on Medicaid don’t work, go to school, or care for family members. The work rules alone could cause about a third of the coverage losses.
Even some Republicans are worried. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley called the cuts “morally wrong and politically suicidal” in a New York Times opinion piece.
The bill also tries to change how insurers get paid when they help low-income customers. It would only pay them if they refuse to cover abortions. This creates problems in 12 states and Washington, where abortion coverage is required. The biggest insurer group, AHIP, told Politico the changes could cause “immediate instability,” especially combined with pandemic-era premium subsidies set to expire. Those subsidies currently help 4 million people afford insurance.
These healthcare cuts come from Republicans’ push to keep Trump’s tax cuts going. Medicaid and other programs have grown from covering 85 million Americans in 2017 to over 100 million now, with annual spending rising from $550 billion to over $900 billion.
Republicans claim they want to stop fraud and waste, but the bill gives no extra funding for fraud detection. Trump told NBC, “They’re looking at fraud, waste and abuse. And nobody minds that.”
