Leading up to the November election, the one issue voters cared about most was the cost of living. For Republican voters, immigration was a close second.
Concerns about government inefficiency did not even make the list. Months into the new administration, however, one of its top priorities is improving government efficiency, and its basic approach is to reduce the size of government through mass layoffs. The assumption seems to be that the government can operate just as effic...
Affordable Care Act
CBO: Nearly 11 million people will be uninsured if GOP megabill becomes law
Nearly 11 million people would lose health insurance under the House Republican tax bill, mostly due to cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The CBO's latest report estimates that 10.9 million people would be uninsured over the next decade if the spending package, which includes much of President Trump's legislative agenda, were enacted.
That total includes an estimated 1.4 million ...
House passes Trump agenda bill, hitting Medicaid, Affordable Care Act
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A Medicaid fix without the tricks
Republicans want to save $880 billion over 10 years in the Medicaid program. Politicians often turn to using various tricks and gimmicks to create the illusion of budgetary savings. But Medicaid is so large and has expanded so far past its original target population that Republicans can find those savings without relying on accounting gimmicks or price controls.
All they need is to implement three long-held Republican ideas.
The first is to bl...
The real cost of smaller companies cutting back on health benefits
While not legally mandated at a federal level, health insurance is generally considered to be an essential employee benefit in the U.S.
As a result, employer-sponsored health insurance remains the cornerstone of American healthcare.
However, for those working for smaller businesses, particularly businesses with less than 50 employees, access to healthcare is becoming increasingly precarious.
For starters, smaller businesses aren’t subject to the same requir...
What to do about $1.1 trillion in improper Medicaid payments
As the 119th Congress seeks to reduce government spending through reconciliation, talk of Medicaid reductions has raised concerns about vulnerable populations losing Medicaid coverage. But simply following the law and paying only for what Medicaid allows would save hundreds of billions of dollars without ending coverage for any of Medicaid’s intended recipients.
According to official reports, the government issued $543 billion in improper Medicaid payments from ...
Restore Medicaid’s intent: Prioritize the most vulnerable over able-bodied childless adults
As Republicans unveil proposed cuts to government programs, they should take this opportunity to reform a program that is the fourth-largest driver of spending: Medicaid.
Congress should refocus the program on its original intent: vulnerable Americans, especially those with disabilities who have nowhere else to turn for health coverage.
Nearly 700,000 people with disabilities are sitting on Medicaid waitlists for vital home and community-based care, and they will ...
How Medicaid cuts could improve access to care
The news is awash with dire predictions of whether or whe Trump or DOGE will cull the Medicaid rolls.
“Millions could lose health insurance,” warns Newsweek. “Medicaid on the chopping block,” is the CBS News headline.
Florida, meanwhile, has already cut more than 1 million from its Medicaid rolls.
It is noteworthy that these publications accurately report that health insurance was or will be cut, not health care. Journalists...
Trump administration slashes funding for ObamaCare outreach program
The Trump administration slashed funding for Affordable Care Act navigators, which help people sign up for ObamaCare coverage on the law’s exchanges, by 90 percent.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday announced health insurance navigators will receive just $10 million per year over the next four years. Navigators received $98 million in 2024.
CMS said the cut will allow the exchanges to focus on more effective strategie...
GOP senators introduce bill to ban taxpayer funding for abortions
Republican lawmakers reintroduced a piece of legislation that would ban the use of federal funds for abortions or health coverage that includes abortion this week.
If passed, the bill would essentially codify a decades-old policy called the Hyde Amendment which has banned the use of any federal dollars on abortions since 1977.
There are two caveats, however. The Hyde Amendment does allow for federal funds to be spent on abortions if continuing a pregnancy en...