Senate Republicans Draw Their Reconciliation Battle Lines Over Medicaid

[Celerity]

Medicaid cuts continue to be the biggest flash point in reconciliation negotiations.

https://www.notus.org/congress/senate-republicans-reconciliation-battle-lines-medicaid

https://archive.ph/HLwLe



The fate of the GOP’s reconciliation bill may very well come down to Medicaid. The Trump administration is pulling out all the stops to convince holdouts — those who want more cuts and those who want fewer — but as of Tuesday, just over two weeks out from the GOP’s July 4 deadline, Senate Republican leaders don’t appear to have the votes for a bill that doesn’t even fully exist yet.

“I’m a ‘no,’” said Sen. Ron Johnson, who opposes the bill over deficit concerns. “I’m a ‘no’ for next week, for sure.” Sen. Josh Hawley, another critic of the bill but because the cuts go too far, skipped the Senate GOP’s lunch on Tuesday. “I just couldn’t take any more harangues about cutting Medicaid. I’ve had enough for a lifetime,” Hawley told NOTUS.

Asked what he’d want to see change in the Medicaid portion of the bill, Hawley expressed strong opposition to the provider tax adjustment for the effect it might have on health care in rural states like Missouri. “I would recommend not defunding rural hospitals in order to pay for ‘Green New Deal’ subsidies,” Hawley said. “That might be my first suggestion, just as a matter of basic priorities.”

Both Vice President JD Vance and Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, attended the Senate GOP’s closed-door lunch on Tuesday to dig into the legislation, hoping to sway holdouts. Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Hawley, among others, continue to have concerns about Medicaid provisions. Sen. Rand Paul objects to the bill’s inclusion of the debt limit. Sens. Rick Scott, Mike Lee and Johnson have all voiced concerns about spending levels in the bill.

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