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May 2025

ashoup
In News, Report, Research

NEW REPORT: Medicaid Coverage Is at Risk for Millions in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Community

The GOP Scheme Will Raise Costs and Rip Coverage Away from AANPHI Communities  

Read the Full Report Here.

Washington, D.C.— To wrap up this Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, Protect Our Care is releasing a report bringing attention to how the GOP spending bill raises costs and rips away people’s health care so Republicans can fund tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations. Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country, providing health care for over 70 million Americans, including 4.5 million AANHPIs. 

This Republican spending bill will rip health care away from millions of American seniors, children, middle- and low-income families, people with disabilities, people fighting cancer, and so many more. Not only does it include the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, it all but dismantles the ACA by enacting massive funding cuts, new rules and restrictions, and eliminating enhanced premium tax credits. For people of color, the loss of coverage would be catastrophic, taking away access to essential care and exacerbating health inequities.

“Republicans are turning their backs on the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Community by dismantling American health care,” said Protect Our Care Policy and Health Equity Senior Advisor Joi Chaney. “Between slashing Medicaid and taking away health care tax credits, Republicans continue to put profits over people and line the pockets of their wealthy friends. Unfortunately, the ones to pay the price are everyday Americans who will no longer be able to afford life-saving care and coverage. This GOP spending bill will destroy the health and well-being of people from all walks of life.”

ashoup
In News

NEW: Protect Our Care Launches Ads Holding Republicans’ Feet to the Fire After House Passes Devastating Health Care Cuts

Watch The New Ads Here

Washington, D.C. – Protect Our Care is launching new ads in 11 districts after Republicans in the House passed the largest Medicaid cuts in American history – all so Trump and the GOP can give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. The bill is highly unpopular with the American people, who overwhelmingly oppose cuts to Medicaid and health care in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.

“By slashing health care, Republicans dared to touch the third rail of American politics,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “Republicans know how indefensible their tax bill is: that’s why they held hearings in the dead of night and wrote the bill behind closed doors. We’re making sure the American people know the dire consequences of what their elected officials voted for and, undoubtedly, Republicans will pay a heavy price for putting billionaires ahead of their constituents’ health.”

These ads are part of Protect Our Care’s over 10-million dollar “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign following an ad featuring Josephine, a grandmother to a little boy with special needs and conservative voter who talks about how cuts to Medicaid would cause pain for her family and millions of others. Read more about Protect Our Care’s latest ads here. 

The Republican tax bill will rip health care away from millions of American seniors, children, middle- and low-income families, people with disabilities, people fighting cancer, and so many more. Not only does it include the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, it all but dismantles the ACA by enacting massive funding cuts, new rules and restrictions, and eliminating enhanced premium tax credits. This Republican bill will increase costs and make health care unaffordable and inaccessible for more middle- and low-income families. 

The ads will launch in the following districts: David Schweikert (AZ-01), David Valadao (CA-22), Young Kim (CA-40), Ken Calvert (CA-41), Nick LaLota (NY-01), Andrew Garbarino (NY-02), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08), and Dan Newhouse (WA-04).

Links to each of the 30-second ads can be found below:
David Schweikert (AZ-01)
David Valadao (CA-22)
Young Kim (CA-40)
Ken Calvert (CA-41)
Nick LaLota (NY-01)
Andrew Garbarino (NY-02)
Mike Lawler (NY-17)
Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
Dan Newhouse (WA-04)

Sample Ad Script for AZ-01:

Narrator: Republicans in Congress promised not to cut Medicaid. But then…

Speaker Mike Johnson: “The bill is passed.” 

Narrator: It’s the biggest cut to Medicaid in history. And Congressman David Schweikert just supported it. More than thirteen million Americans could lose health care – seniors, veterans, and children with disabilities.

Why’d he do it? 

To give another huge tax break to billionaires and big corporations. Tell Congressman Schweikert – we can’t afford to have our health care taken away. Not now. Not ever.

ashoup
In Press Call, News

TODAY: Protect Our Care Holds Events With Sen. Baldwin and Rep. Goldman In States to Call On Republicans to Put an End to Their War on American Health Care

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MAY 29***

Protect Our Care Holds Events In New York, South Dakota, and Wisconsin

Today, Protect Our Care is hosting events in Wisconsin, New York, and South Dakota, headlined by the U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and U.S. Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY-10) to discuss how Republicans are advancing their unpopular spending bill that slashes funding for Americans’ health care in order to hand out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations.

This bill includes the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, and it dismantles the Affordable Care Act. If the Senate approves this bill, costs will skyrocket and more than 13 million Americans will lose health care coverage. Speakers will address the urgent need for Senators to put people over politics and reject the House spending bill.

WISCONSIN

WHO:
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Harrison Keller, Medicaid recipient
Timothy Glanville, Medicaid recipient
Carla Becker, Parent of Medicaid recipient
Brianna Pearson, Peer Support Specialist, Indigo, Independent Living Center
Dawn Becerra, Caretaker of Medicaid recipient
Barbara Sorensen, Parent of Medicaid recipient
Lee Homan, CEO, Lake Superior Community Health Center (LSCHC)
Jake Kuschke, Chief Financial Officer, LSCHC
Laurie Ann Hall, Chief Operating Officer, LSCHC

WHAT: Roundtable and Press Availability

WHERE: Lake Superior Community Health Center, 2222 East 5th Street, Superior, WI.

WHEN: Thursday, May 29 at 11 AM CT

SOUTH DAKOTA

WHO:
Former U.S. Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-SD)
American Cancer Society
Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas (CHAD)
American Lung Association
American Heart Association

WHAT: Virtual Press Conference

WHERE: Register to join the Zoom event (Registration required)

WHEN: Thursday, May 29 at 10 AM CT

NEW YORK

WHO:
U.S. Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY-10)
State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Chair of Senate Committee on Health
Eve Krief, Suffolk County Pediatrician

WHAT: Virtual Press Conference

WHERE:  Register to join the Zoom event (Registration required)

WHEN: Thursday, May 29 at 3 PM EST

ashoup
In Roundup, News

HEADLINES: Republicans Face Blowback For Slashing Medicaid After Passing Devastating Budget Bill

The Pressure Is On Republican Senators to Reject House Reconciliation Bill and Protect Health Care for Everyday Americans

As the Republican reconciliation bill moves to the Senate this week, reporting highlights the mountain of opposition this bill faces in the upper chamber. The bill, which House Republicans passed last week, includes the largest Medicaid cuts in history and effectively dismantles the Affordable Care Act through massive funding cuts, new rules and restrictions, and the elimination of premium tax credits. With this bill, Republicans want to make unprecedented health care cuts – and drive up costs and strip coverage and care from millions of middle- and low-income Americans – so they can give massive tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Seniors will be forced out of their nursing homes, rural hospitals will close, cancer patients and children with disabilities will lose lifesaving care, and working families will face the impossible choice of going to the doctor or putting food on the table. As we continue to learn more about all the damage this bill will cause, coverage makes it clear that the political consequences of such drastic health care cuts are becoming insurmountable. 

PBS News: How The GOP’s Proposed Medicaid Cuts Could Affect Millions Of Family Caregivers

  • “The House bill, if enacted, would reshape how care is provided in this country in a couple of key ways. One, it’ll force states to make decisions about its Medicaid program and what to fund because of reduced funding. Usually historically, what is first on the chopping block are those home and community based services. So it’ll be harder to access those essential home and community based services. Second is work requirements. Really strict work requirements would add a really steep administrative burden onto the shoulders of family caregivers. Family caregivers who are already navigating really complicated bureaucracy. And then third will be a loss of health care coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 14 million folks will lose health care coverage. We know that over 4 million Americans are family caregivers who rely on Medicaid for their own health care coverage. So that’s at stake.”

Rolling Stone: Trump Adviser Admits Republican Tax Bill Makes Huge Cuts to Medicaid 

  • “President Donald Trump and Republican leaders keep pretending they aren’t cutting Medicaid with their new tax bill, which will further enrich the wealthy and pay for it in part by significantly slashing Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans. Trump, who has repeatedly promised to protect Medicaid, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have both claimed that Republicans are simply targeting “waste, fraud, and abuse” in their tax bill, which passed the House last week. David Sacks, who is serving as Trump’s “AI and crypto czar,” put the Medicaid situation more plainly Saturday on his All In podcast: ‘This bill cuts $880 billion from Medicaid over a decade.’”

The Washington Post: GOP-backed Medicaid cuts could affect more than House races next year 

  • “With a handful of House Republicans either running for governor or seriously considering bids, Democrats believe their votes on this bill could play a major role in elections far beyond congressional campaigns next year. The Democratic Governors Association issued a statement moments after the bill’s passage calling out the 10 Republicans running or considering running for governor, arguing that voters in each state ‘will hold them accountable for their toxic agenda at the ballot box next November.’”

Axios: ACA Rollback Becomes Key Part Of Reconciliation

  • “Although much of the attention has been on the bill’s Medicaid provisions, the final House draft called for an overhaul of ACA marketplaces that would result in coverage losses and savings for the government. The bill would end automatic reenrollment in ACA plans for people getting subsidies, instead requiring them to proactively reenroll and resubmit information on their incomes for verification. It would also prevent enrollees from provisionally receiving ACA subsidies in instances where extra eligibility checks are needed, which can take months. If people wound up making more income than they had estimated for a given year, the bill removes the cap on the amount of ACA subsidies they would have to repay to the government.
  • In a letter to Congress, patient groups pointed to the various barriers as “unprecedented and onerous requirements to access health coverage” that would have “a devastating impact on people’s ability to access and afford private insurance coverage.” The letter was signed by groups including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association and American Lung Association.”

PolitiFact: Trump Said GOP Bill Only Targets Medicaid ‘Fraud and Abuse.’ That’s False.

  • “The House passed the bill Thursday and it now moves to the Senate, where it could be changed. The House version doesn’t directly target Social Security or Medicare. But it changes Medicaid, including in ways that align with Republican priorities. Congress’ nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that at least 8.6 million people will lose coverage because of the changes. ‘Relatively little of the bill is clearly related to trying to reduce fraud or error,’ said Leighton Ku, director of George Washington University’s Center for Health Policy Research. ‘There are some minor provisions about things like looking for dead people who are enrolled or checking addresses. But the major provisions are not fraud, waste or error by any means. They’re things that reflect policy preferences of the Republican architects.’”

Senator Murkowski Calls Medicaid Provisions “Very, Very, Very Challenging If Not Impossible.” 

  • “Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has said she’s worried about kicking Medicaid recipients who are unable to work off the program as well as the bill’s effect on rural hospitals. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she is worried that her state will struggle to put in place new work requirements because of its outdated Medicaid payment systems. ‘There are provisions in there that are very, very, very challenging if not impossible for us to implement,’ Murkowski said.” 
  • “Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), who has vowed to oppose the bill if it cuts Medicaid benefits, said he has concerns about new Medicaid co-pays, which he dubbed a “sick tax.” He’s also worried about the House bill’s freeze on provider taxes, which states use to help fund their Medicaid programs and wring more matching funds from Washington. Missouri’s provider taxes are relatively low right now, putting it at a disadvantage. ‘If you fool around with that provider tax in my state, you really risk getting to benefit cuts,’ Hawley said.”

The Daily Beast: Trump Adviser Says the Quiet Part Out Loud on Medicaid Cuts

  • “The admission from Sacks came as he defended Trump for not pushing for additional spending cuts in the bill, which the entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, the podcast’s co-host, said he wanted to see done. Sacks said Trump did not have the House votes needed to push through for more cuts, but Calacanis countered that the president has never been shy about bullying his way into getting what he wants. Calacanis’ co-host, Canadian-American venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, was also puzzled that the bill’s only cuts are to Medicaid. ‘The level of financial illiteracy in this bill will come back to bite America in the a–,’ he said. ‘Period.’”

Matt Yglesias in Bloomberg: GOP Budget “Will Slash Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars in Medicaid Spending, Costing Millions Of Americans Their Health Insurance”  

  • “Politically, the toughest thing in the BBB is that it will slash hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid spending, costing millions of Americans their health insurance. There’s no other way to make the math work…Republican leaders have learned time and again over the years that House moderates always fold. In the past Senate Republican moderates — notably Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — have bucked the party line on key votes and even killed major pieces of legislation. But there are no comparable examples of House moderates sticking to their guns in recent years.”

Congresswoman Alma Adams in Newsweek: I Remember a World Without Medicaid. We Can’t Go Back.

  • “Despite working full time, my mother still couldn’t afford health insurance and there was no Medicaid for her to fall back on. My sister had sickle-cell disease which, if you don’t know, is a rare hereditary disease that can cause excruciating pain. Growing up, I spent many late nights in the ER with my sister as she navigated her debilitating condition. I often think what a difference it would have made to have health insurance. My sister wouldn’t have suffered as much if she had access to comprehensive care and treatment. My mother wouldn’t have had to work herself to exhaustion to provide for us…Government programs like Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, housing vouchers—they exist to ensure that every American has the foundation they need to build a life of dignity and opportunity. Yet, Republicans are putting these programs on the chopping block to fund their trillion-dollar tax cuts to billionaires.”

MSNBC: House Republicans Vote To Defund Hundreds Of Planned Parenthood Clinics

  • “Donald Trump and the Republicans’ budget bill could take reproductive health care access away from more than 1.1 million Planned Parenthood patients. Carrie Baker, professor of Women and Gender Studies at Smith College, joins MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss the consequences Republican Medicaid cuts will have on low-income Americans: ‘more people will end up with unwanted pregnancies … they won’t have access to cancer screenings.’” 

The Washington Post: The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Is A Big Risk For House Republicans. Many Of Them Hope Otherwise. 

  • “The Congressional Budget Office reports that those in the lowest 10 percent of the income scale would see their resources reduced while those in the highest 10 percent would see them increased. Various estimates say the measure would add about $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, a bitter pill for deficit-conscious Republicans. The bond markets have responded poorly.”

Politico: Dems roll out ads hitting Republicans on Medicaid

  • “‘The core argument in the midterms and the TLDR on this budget is it’s the largest cut to Medicaid in history,’ said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist. ‘As people find that out, they know it’s not a nipping or tucking of the program, it’s a fucking of the people on it.’ Democrats see Republicans as vulnerable on the issue with their own base. In 2024, Trump built his winning coalition, in part, on growing support among working class voters across racial groups — a reality emphasized by Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, who warned Republicans in February to be careful around Medicaid cuts because there are “a lot of MAGAs on Medicaid.” A Morning Consult analysis found that Trump won more Medicaid beneficiaries, 49 percent, than Kamala Harris, who won 47 percent of them. Trump told Republican House members this week to not ‘fuck around with Medicaid.’”
ashoup
In News

Trump’s War on Health Care: Public Health Watch

Welcome to Public Health Watch, a weekly roundup from Protect Our Care tracking catastrophic activity as part of Donald Trump’s sweeping war on health care. From installing anti-vaccine zealot RFK Jr. as Secretary of HHS to empowering Elon Musk to make indiscriminate cuts to our public health infrastructure, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, Donald Trump is endangering the lives of millions of Americans. Protect Our Care’s Public Health Watch will shine a spotlight on the worst of the Trump/RFK/Musk war on vaccines, science and public health and serve as a resource for the press, public and advocacy groups to hold them accountable. 

What’s Happening In Public Health?

Catastrophic Cuts Are Creating Chaos And Endangering Americans’ Health And Scientific Innovation

Washington Post: E. coli outbreak sickened more than 80 people, but details didn’t surface Colton George felt sick. The 9-year-old Indiana boy told his parents his stomach hurt. He kept running to the bathroom and felt too ill to finish a basketball game. Days later, he lay in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. He had eaten tainted salad, according to a lawsuit against the lettuce grower filed by his parents on April 17 in federal court for the Southern District of Indiana. The E. coli bacteria that ravaged Colton’s kidneys was a genetic match to the strain that killed one person and sickened nearly 90 people in 15 states last fall. Federal health agencies investigated the cases and linked them to a farm that grew romaine lettuce. But most people have never heard about this outbreak, which a Feb. 11 internal Food and Drug Administration memo linked to a single lettuce processor and ranch as the source of the contamination. In what many experts said was a break with common practice, officials never issued public communications after the investigation or identified the grower who produced the lettuce. From failing to publicize a major outbreak to scaling back safety alert specialists and rules, the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory and cost-cutting push risks unraveling a critical system that helps ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply, according to consumer advocates, researchers and former employees at the FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

New York Times: Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades The National Science Foundation, which funds much of the fundamental scientific research at American universities, is awarding new grants at the slowest pace in at least 35 years. The funding decreases touch virtually every area of science — extending far beyond the diversity programs and other “woke” targets that the Trump administration says it wants to cut. That means less support for early-stage research that underpins future technological advancements — and American competitiveness — in areas like computer science and engineering; physics and chemistry; climate science and weather forecasting; and materials and manufacturing innovations. It also means less money for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and early-career professors — potentially disrupting the nation’s future scientific work force. Economists have warned that cutting federal funding for scientific research could, in the long run, damage the U.S. economy by an amount equivalent to a major recession.

NPR: Diseases are spreading. The CDC isn’t warning the public like it was months ago To accomplish its mission of increasing the health security of the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that it “conducts critical science and provides health information” to protect the nation. But since President Trump’s administration assumed power in January, many of the platforms the CDC used to communicate with the public have gone silent, an NPR analysis found. Many of the CDC’s newsletters have stopped being distributed, workers at the CDC say. Health alerts about disease outbreaks, previously sent to health professionals subscribed to the CDC’s Health Alert Network, haven’t been dispatched since March. The agency’s main social media channels have come under new ownership of the Department of Health and Human Services, emails reviewed by NPR show, and most have gone more than a month without posting their own new content.

NOTUS: Senators Ask RFK Jr. Who’s in Charge of Cuts: Him or DOGE? Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appearance before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday was dominated by one question: Who, exactly, is directing the sweeping cuts to the nation’s federal health research and infrastructure? “Is it DOGE?” ranking member Sen. Tammy Baldwin asked bluntly. Kennedy didn’t give a clear answer. And when asked by Sen. Dick Durbin about cuts to tobacco regulation personnel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, Kennedy said he “didn’t know about those cuts

Health Impacts:

Cruel, Destructive, and Corrupt Policy Changes:

The FDA Is Being Dismantled – Stalling Drug Development And Leaving Us Vulnerable To Food-Borne Illness 

The Independent: Trump’s FDA chief suggests diabetics should take cooking classes under MAHA agenda Donald Trump’s Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary has suggested it would be more effective to “treat more diabetes with cooking classes” instead of “just throwing insulin at people” under the president’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Makary made the remarks Sunday on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures while promoting a new report from the president’s “Make America Healthy Again” commission. “We’ve got to stop and ask ourselves, should we be focusing more on school lunch programs, not just putting every kid on Ozempic? We’ve got to talk about food as medicine and gut health and the microbiome,” Makary said.

Stat: FDA will limit Covid vaccines to people over 65 or at high risk of serious illness, leaders say The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it will limit access to Covid-19 vaccines going forward to people 65 and older and others who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill if they are infected, and will require manufacturers to conduct clinical trials to show whether the vaccines benefit healthy younger adults and children. After weeks of signaling a shift in thinking, the new leaders of the FDA and the agency’s division that regulates vaccines published a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine laying out their plan for future use of Covid vaccines. Commissioner Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, argued that the U.S. approach to recommending Covid vaccination for everyone ages 6 months and older is out of step with the rest of the world and may no longer be needed, given that many people have developed some protection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus through vaccinations, infections, or both. New randomized, placebo-controlled trials of healthy adults will help to determine if the vaccines are still warranted for people who are not at high risk from Covid infection, they wrote.

CBS: FDA expands COVID vaccine warning about heart side effect risk for young males The Food and Drug Administration is telling Pfizer and Moderna to expand the warning labels on their COVID-19 vaccines about the risk of a possible heart injury side effect linked to the mRNA shots, primarily in teen boys and young men, citing findings from a study published last year and new agency data. Orders to expand the warnings were posted Wednesday by the FDA, in letters dated April 17 to Pfizer and BioNTech about their Comirnaty vaccine and Moderna about its Spikevax vaccine. Both vaccines previously carried warnings about how the risk of the heart side effects — which doctors call myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart) — looked to be higher in young men, generally within the first week after vaccination. While the earlier labels specified ages 18 to 24 years old for Moderna’s vaccine and 12 to 17 years old for Pfizer’s, the new warning will apply to males ages 16 to 25 for both vaccines.

Reuters: Moderna pulls application for COVID-flu combination shot Moderna said on Wednesday it has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and COVID combination vaccine candidate to wait for efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its influenza shot, which is due later this year.

RFK Jr. Is An Extreme MAGA Anti-Vaxxer Who’s Breaking His “Assurances” To Key Republicans To Get Confirmed And Mis-Managing HHS 

Stat: RFK Jr. rolls back Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy children, pregnant people Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that he has unilaterally struck the recommendation that healthy children and healthy pregnant people get Covid-19 booster shots — a move that experts say is unprecedented. Kennedy made the announcement on the social media site X, flanked by Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, and Marty Makary, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. “It’s common sense, and it’s good science,” said Bhattacharya, whose agency has no involvement in the regulation of vaccines, or in decisions on who should get them. Absent from the video was anyone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sets policy for who should get approved vaccines on the advice of its expert panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The CDC is currently without an acting director.

Wall Street Journal: What’s Inside RFK Jr.’s MAHA Report The White House’s “Make America Healthy Again” report criticized food additives, lobbyists and vaccines, but went easier than expected on pesticides in farming. The report released Thursday was compiled by the MAHA Commission led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which President Trump established in February. The White House made last-minute changes to the report, including cutting references to agricultural company Monsanto and details of corporate lobbying on “forever chemicals” and food labeling, as well as conflicts of interest in chemical regulation. The White House also shortened a section on vaccines and added recognition that vaccines benefit children by protecting them from infectious diseases. The Wall Street Journal previously reported on a draft version of the report, citing people briefed on it who said changes could be made before its release.

The Independent: Tim Walz calls out RFK Jr on children’s health: ‘Just so blatantly false’ Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ripped into Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s comments about autism and warned that the Trump administration’s cuts to the Department of Education posed a risk to students with disabilities. Walz, the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president alongside Kamala Harris, spoke to The Independent about the Trump administration, last year’s presidential election and the way forward for Democrats. Walz said that he worried about the stigma that Kennedy’s words would spread about people with disabilities. “First of all, you know, basically stigmatizing these kids and basically saying, you know, they’re not going to pay taxes, they’re not going to contribute, or whatever, which is just so blatantly false and, quite honestly, just evil in its intent and all the work we’ve done.”

Axios: RFK Jr. pushes back target date for autism report Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday walked back promises to release a report on the causes of autism by September. Why it matters: Kennedy, who has promoted debunked theories about the disorder, launched a mission to find a cure under the Trump administration. “The most solid information, it will probably take us another six months,” Kennedy told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Kennedy laid out the new timeline the same day his Make America Healthy Again Commission released a 68-page report on childhood chronic illness. Kennedy tapped David Geier, a vaccine denier who practiced medicine without a license in Maryland, to conduct a study into the links between vaccines and autism.

Reuters: RFK Jr. demands healthier school meals as Trump cancels program that funded them First-graders at John B. Wright elementary school in Tucson bounced into the brightly lit lunchroom, chattering with friends as they grabbed trays featuring juicy mandarin oranges, cherry tomatoes and butter lettuce, all grown at nearby farms that coax fresh produce from the Sonoran Desert. Those fruit and vegetables were supplied with the help of the federal Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, or LFS, which was set to distribute $660 million to school systems and child care facilities in 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA abruptly canceled the program in March as part of President Donald Trump’s plans to gut the federal government. “People think it’s crappy food, it’s processed, unhealthy, they think it’s mystery meat,” said Lindsay Aguilar, who heads up the Tucson Unified School District’s nutrition program. “Parents associate it from when we were in school 23 years ago. It is completely different from what it used to be.” The Trump administration’s mixed messages on school meals — funding cuts alongside calls for healthier, and more costly options — create a challenge for those involved with school nutrition programs, they told Reuters. As part of his Trump-inspired campaign to “Make America Healthy Again,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has accused schools of feeding children unhealthy food laden with food dyes and additives. “We need to stop poisoning our kids and make sure that Americans are once again the healthiest kids on the planet,” Kennedy said at an event with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins late last month, adding that the two agencies would be “looking at” school meals.

Disastrous, Dangerous Appointments

Stat: Inside the rise of Tracy Beth Høeg, the Covid contrarian shaping FDA vaccine policy The Covid-19 pandemic was a turning point for Tracy Beth Høeg.  Before March 2020, Høeg was a sports medicine physician focused on ultramarathon runners. Then, she rose to prominence by challenging school closures, mask mandates, and the approval of booster shots for children.  Now, she’s been tapped for a top role at the Food and Drug Administration, working closely with two fellow Covid contrarians — Marty Makary, the agency’s commissioner, and Vinay Prasad, the head of a key center — and advising on vaccines. Officially, she’s a special assistant to Makary. In May, she quietly updated her LinkedIn to add another title: senior clinical science advisor at Prasad’s division, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccines.  Høeg, a political appointee and close confidante of Makary’s, is already starting to have a central role in reshaping vaccine policy. She attended a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory meeting in the place of a career vaccine scientist in April, and reportedly was involved in the approval delay of Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine.

Public Health Threats

NBC: When measles struck, a surge of parents stepped up to vaccinate their children Kala Hunter did not hesitate to get her 2-year-old son, Brady, fully vaccinated in March as the number of measles cases grew in her West Texas community. “Being in the hotbed of the measles outbreak,” said Hunter, 47, of Lubbock, “it was a no-brainer. If it was safe to get him vaccinated early, we were going to protect him.” Harmony Montes, 21, also of Lubbock, said she felt the same way. As the outbreak escalated in April, Montes jumped at the chance to get her daughter, Melody Rocha, vaccinated at her six-month checkup.  “We didn’t hesitate at all,” Montes said. “I wasn’t going to risk her health.” The moms represent a recent surge in Texas parents opting to get their babies and toddlers the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination as soon as possible.

ashoup
In News

HEADLINES: The Country Reacts As Republicans Advance Tax Scam Bill That Decimates American Health Care to Enrich Billionaires

After House Republicans voted to pass their devastating tax bill, reporting from policy experts and sources across the country reveal how devastating this GOP tax scam will be for the health care and financial stability of everyday Americans. This bill includes the largest Medicaid cuts in history and all but repeals the ACA through massive funding cuts, new rules and restrictions, and the elimination of premium tax credits, all of which will increase costs and rip coverage and care away from middle- and low-income families. With this bill, Republicans will make the wealthiest Americans and corporations even richer by ripping lifesaving care away from children with disabilities and cancer patients, shuttering hospitals and nursing homes, and forcing working families to choose between seeing a doctor or putting food on the table. As this bill moves to the Senate, Republicans will have to decide where they stand: with billionaires and big corporations or everyday Americans.

NATIONAL

The New York Times: Editorial Board: Make No Mistake, Republicans Are Trying to Cut Medicaid.

  • “All Americans deserve access to affordable health care. Every other developed nation already ensures universal access, and the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, while flawed and inefficient, has brought the United States closer to that goal. Republicans are not proposing to fix the flaws. They are not proposing to deliver better health care at a lower cost. The bill would save money by depriving Americans of health insurance.”

The Bulwark: GOP ‘Moderates’ Lied Their Way Through Cutting Medicaid.

  • “The bill’s fortunes improved through the night as one so-called moderate House Republican after another reneged on promises to preserve the social safety net. Many of their constituents will be feeling the pain of the coming policy changes in the years ahead.”

Vox: The Reconciliation Bill Is Republicans Doing What They Do Best

  • “So, all in all, a terrible bill. But whatever else that proposal is, it’s startlingly normal for Republican politics. It represents ideas that have defined the Republican party and its economic and budgetary priorities since 1980, and which the party has strongly held to even in the face of Trump’s total takeover. The Republican Party stands for lower taxes, especially on the rich; lower spending on programs for the poor; and big spending on defense.”

The Atlantic: The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History 

  • “House Republicans are fully aware of the political and economic risks of this endeavor. Cutting taxes for the affluent is unpopular, and cutting Medicaid is even more so. That is why, instead of proudly proclaiming what the bill will accomplish, they are pretending it will do neither.”
  • “The party’s response is to fall back on wordplay, pretending that their scheme of imposing complex work requirements, which are designed to cull eligible recipients who cannot navigate the paperwork burden, will not throw people off the program—when that is precisely the effect they are counting on to produce the necessary savings.”

Bloomberg: Opinion: A Big, Ugly Attack on Americans’ Health

  • “The changes would affect not just those in the above-mentioned groups but also pregnant women and children — and even Americans who don’t rely on Medicaid. Ultimately, as new data make clear, this attack on a vital service for low-income Americans will cost lives.”

MSNBC: Opinion: Republicans Pass Trump Bill While Trying to Hide Medicaid, Snap Cuts 

  • “Indeed, what is happening on Capitol Hill can hardly be described as legislating. Making laws means hearing from experts, considering data and weighing pros and cons. The GOP’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ is none of those things. It’s highway robbery, and Republicans desperately don’t want the American people to know that they are the ones holding them up.”

CNBC: House Republican Tax Bill Favors the Rich — How Much They Stand to Gain, and Why 

  • “The bulk of the financial benefits in the legislation — called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — would flow to the wealthiest Americans, courtesy of tax-cutting measures like those for business owners, investors and homeowners in high-tax areas, experts said. However, low earners would be worse off, they said. That’s largely because Republicans partially offset those tax cuts — estimated to cost about $4 trillion or more — with reductions to social safety net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.”

Rolling Stone: Trump’s Tax Bill Would Decimate the Affordable Care Act 

  • “In a letter to House leadership, 18 state-level ACA marketplaces warned of the potential devastation. “The Americans who depend on the marketplaces include working parents, small business owners, farmers, gig workers, early retirees, and lower and middle-class individuals of all ages, political views, and backgrounds who drive our local economies and make both our rural and urban communities thrive,” they wrote. “These proposals, in total, will drastically diminish the progress on health coverage that the United States has made in the last decade via marketplaces. Only the sickest patients may remain in the marketplaces, skyrocketing costs for everyone.””

Bloomberg: Trump Tax Bill Holdouts Lured With SALT Hike, Medicaid Cuts 

  • “The revised bill also would accelerate new Medicaid work requirements to December 2026 from 2029 in a gesture to satisfy ultraconservatives.”
  • “In an appeal to hardliners, the revised bill prohibits Medicaid from funding gender transition therapies or procedures for minors or adults. The original version applied only to minors.”

Medicare Rights Center: Broken Promises: Republicans’ Budget Reconciliation Bill Would Cut Medicare 

  • Since taking control of Congress and the White House, Republican leadership and rank-and-file members have repeatedly promised not to undermine Medicare or cut Medicare benefits. With the introduction and House passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), they have broken that promise. The Republican tax bill takes direct aim at Medicare, gutting eligibility and restricting access to benefits, while also cutting Medicaid in ways that would harm people who are dually eligible for both programs. For low-income older adults and people with disabilities, the health and economic ramifications of these cuts would be devastating.

MarketWatch: ‘Medicaid and Food Stamps Are Easy Targets’: House Bill Makes Unprecedented Cuts to Medicaid and Snap 

  • “Medicaid and food stamps are easy targets because the poor don’t have lobbyists,” said Chris Orestis, president and founder of Retirement Genius, a retirement education and consulting firm. “Seniors and vulnerable people have never seen these levels of cuts. This is unprecedented. The bill still adds $5 trillion to the deficit while gutting social services. It’s a clear statement of the legislative priorities of the House and the administration.”  

FROM THE EXPERTS

CBPP: House Republican Health Agenda Cuts Coverage, Raises People’s Costs 

  • The amount of health care cuts and the number of people losing coverage and becoming uninsured are expected to grow as House Republicans make changes in preparation of bringing the bill to the House floor. Along with the cuts that will result in coverage losses, the bill would raise costs for millions of others who manage to keep their health coverage, and it cruelly targets specific people with harsh restrictions and reduced access to care, including people who are immigrants with a lawful status and their families.
  • Despite misleading claims otherwise, nearly all of those losing Medicaid and marketplace coverage and those facing higher costs are eligible for these programs and are U.S. citizens or have a lawful immigration status. And those harmed by this plan do include children, older adults, and people with disabilities.

Center for American Progress: The Big, ‘Beautiful’ Bill’s Health Care Cuts Would Drive Up Uncompensated Care and Threaten Vulnerable Hospitals 

  • The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that this bill, alongside congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend enhanced ACA premium tax credits, would cause nearly 14 million Americans to lose health insurance. Notably, the House-approved bill includes last-minute changes that would both deepen and accelerate coverage losses, including by implementing Medicaid work reporting requirements starting in 2026 and more frequent eligibility determinations two years earlier than initial drafts proposed. This surge in uninsurance would not only destabilize people’s lives but also place immense pressure on health care providers throughout the entire country, as they would be left to absorb staggering financial losses from unreimbursed care services.

IN THE STATES

Alaska Public Media: Alaskans protest Begich’s support for Medicaid cuts in national budget reconciliation bill

  • “Alaska is one of the most dependent states on federal Medicaid funding. On average the state pays only about a quarter of Medicaid costs and the rest is covered by the Federal government. The state already has some of the highest health care costs in the world and experts say that major Medicaid cuts at a federal level would likely lead to even higher Alaska health care costs.”

KFVS: Thousands of Missourians could lose Medicaid coverage under proposed changes

  • “In Missouri alone, 1.3 million people use Medicaid. KC CARE Health Center serves about 20,000 people in and around Kansas City, Missouri–most of them on Medicaid. Wil Franklin says many of his patients at KC CARE Health Center work multiple jobs just to get by. Without Medicaid, however, those patients would not be able to see Franklin or the other caregivers at KC CARE.”

Wisconsin Examiner: Two parents put a face on the impact of potential Medicaid cuts

  • Her son has been able to thrive living with her and her husband, Seawright said — but worry clouds the future. “We look toward his adulthood, knowing that disability and aging programs that would support him staying in the community — where we, our family and our community, know he belongs — are being dismantled and defunded,” Seawright said. “Forcing us and others like us into medical bankruptcy is not a solution.”…“Our neighbors, our friends and our colleagues at work who rely on Medicaid and are scared, really scared,” Baldwin said. 

WTKR: Protesters gather outside Kiggans’ Town Center office to voice concerns about Trump’s spending bill

  • The group says they’re worried about how Trump’s bill could impact Medicaid. The proposed legislation includes significant alterations to Medicaid, seeking to impose work and education requirements for beneficiaries, per Scripps News reports. Pittman claims, “Over 600,000 Virginians getting kicked off of Medicaid. Medicaid is a federal-state partnership. Virginia voted to expand Medicaid, and if the federal government gets rid of that funding, then 600,000 Virginians are set to lose it.”

Tucson Sentinel: Healthcare advocates warn Medicaid cuts will strip coverage from 190k 

  • As Republicans debate new work requirements and other Medicaid changes as part of a budget plan making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives, healthcare advocates are warning that eligible Arizonans will lose their health insurance when they fail to jump new bureaucratic hurdles…Tucson resident Chad Durns, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, receives his insurance through AHCCCS. Durns fears that he’d lose his coverage as a result of work requirements.
  • “It’s not about waste and fraud and abuse,” said Kelly, an Arizona Democrat serving his first full term in the Senate. “It’s about kicking people off and making it harder for them. It’s about cutting costs to get a big tax cut.” That tax cut, Kelly said, will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans. “If you’re in the top .1 percent, you get something like $350,000 a year out of this,” Kelly said. “If you’re in the top 1 percent, somewhere between $60,000 and $100,000. If you’re median income, talking about maybe a couple hundred dollars and if you’re below that, you get nothing.”

Fresno Bee: A California spinal injury survivor speaks out on Medicaid funding cuts

  • Without Medicaid, I don’t know how I’d survive, let alone attend college, pursue my degree or build a future. I live on a fixed income. There is simply no room in my budget for the medications, hospital bills or emergency care that Medicaid currently covers. Without it, I would be trapped — physically, financially and emotionally. Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security are not handouts. They are systems we contribute to — investments we make in one another so that when hardship strikes, we don’t fall through the cracks.
ashoup
In News

ROUNDUP: Trump’s Tax Scam Is Dead On Arrival In Senate, Lawmakers Planning “Considerable Changes”

U.S. Capitol Building

House Republicans’ tax bill is hitting a brick wall in the Senate, where Republican lawmakers are signaling it has no path forward. Earlier this week, House Republicans voted to pass their spending bill which includes the largest Medicaid cuts in American history – all so Trump and the GOP can give tax breaks to the wealthiest people and corporations. But Republicans in the Senate have made it clear: this bill is dead on arrival. 

Destroying our health care system will cause devastation to millions of Americans, including seniors, children, people with disabilities, cancer patients, small business owners, and more. It’s a scam to give massive tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and large corporations at the expense of hard-working families. It’s time for Republicans in the Senate to prove where they stand: with billionaires or with everyday Americans.

Republican Senators

Anonymous Republican Senator: “There’s probably five, six, seven of us who, if you do anything that cuts into benefits, you’re going to have a real problem. The leader is aware of that.” [The Hill, 5/22/25]

John Thune, South Dakota: “We are going to write our own bill.” [CNN, 5/22/25]

Josh Hawley, Missouri: “Listen, the Senate will write its own version of this, so to speak. I’m sure there’ll be all kinds of tweaks and adjustments. [Trump’s] comments to me were, ‘Don’t cut Medicaid.’ He said he thought we ought to revisit the carried interest loophole and close it, which I think is a wise idea. So, you know, I think he’s given us some direction there.” [NOTUS, 5/23/25]

Lisa Murkowski, Alaska: “There are provisions in there that are very, very, very challenging, if not impossible, for us to implement.” [CNN, 5/22/25]

Mike Rounds, South Dakota: “Once the Senate weighs in on it, I think we’ll have a different opinion about what the bill looks like. We’re a long ways from the finish line.” [CNN, 5/22/25]

Roger Marshall, Kansas: “We need to go back through that bill with a fine-tooth comb and make it better. I think there’s opportunities in Medicaid to make that bill better, to make sure that we strengthen it, that we preserve it for those who need it most.” [LA Times, 5/22/25]

Ron Johnson, Wisconsin: He’s “absolutely” a no on the House bill as “currently constructed.” [The Hill, 5/23/25]

Susan Collins, Maine: “I have said and made clear that I do not want to take away Medicaid benefits,” Collins said, adding that she will be closely reviewing the House GOP bill. [CNN, 5/22/25]

Ted Cruz, Texas: “I think there will be considerable changes in the Senate.” [The Hill, 5/23/25]

Thom Tillis, North Carolina: “We are going to have to figure out what the art of the possible is in the Senate. There’s clearly going to be changes to the bill.” [NYT, 5/22/25]

ashoup
In News

STATEMENT: Senators Klobuchar, Welch Introduce Legislation to Expand Medicare Drug Negotiations

As Democrats Move to Lower Drug Prices for Seniors, Republicans Are Working Behind the Scenes to Raise Costs and Rip Health Care From Millions

Washington, DC – Yesterday, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Peter Welch (D-VT) reintroduced the Strengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act. This legislation would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for more drugs more quickly, including by increasing the number of prescription drugs that the Department of Health and Human Services can negotiate on and starting those negotiations sooner after a drug hits the market. It also gives Medicare the authority to negotiate greater discounts on drugs. As a result, seniors will pay less for their prescriptions, and taxpayers will save billions. Early this morning, House Republicans passed their tax bill which rips health care away from millions in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.

“Senators Klobuchar and Welch are fighting for seniors and their families by bringing down the high cost of prescription drugs,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Americans across the political spectrum support Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices and want to see the program expand. Instead, Trump and his cronies in Congress are charging ahead with their budget that not only guts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to fund billionaire tax breaks, but hands billions in giveaways over to Big Pharma. 

“The contrast couldn’t be more clear. If Republicans are serious about wanting to lower drug prices and save taxpayer dollars, they should join Senators Klobuchar and Welch in passing the SMART Prices Act and deliver real, lasting relief for the American people.”

ashoup
In News

NEW REPORT: Republicans Are Taking a Wrecking Ball to the ACA to Fund Their Billionaire Tax Scam

Read the Report Here.

Washington, D.C. — Protect Our Care is releasing a new report detailing the devastation and harm that will be caused by the Republican tax bill. Last night, Republicans in the House passed their plan to dismantle American health care in order to hand out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. 

In addition to draconian Medicaid cuts, Republicans are raising premiums and out-of-pocket costs for tens of millions of people who buy coverage on their own. They are fundamentally dismantling the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by raising costs for millions, making it harder to enroll, and chipping away at its core provisions. This is just yet another desperate attempt to repeal the ACA. Despite trying again and again to destroy the ACA and failing, Republicans are still relentless in their war on American health care. After 15 years, the ACA is woven into the fabric of our health system and popular across the country and political spectrum. So Republicans, by the cover of night when everyone is sleeping, are jamming these policies into their budget to achieve their decades-long goal of dismantling the ACA for good. 

“Republicans are taking a wrecking ball to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “As a result, premiums will skyrocket and millions will lose their health care to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy who don’t need more money in their pockets. Unfortunately, the ones to pay the price are everyday Americans who will no longer be able to afford life-saving care and coverage. The American people deserve better and Republicans will pay the political price after voting to advance this tax scam.”

Here’s exactly how Republicans are sabotaging the ACA:

  • Eliminate Tax Credits, Hiking Premiums For Over 24 Million Americans. Without these tax credits, families will pay up to 90 percent more for their health care and an estimated 5 million Americans will lose their coverage altogether, including middle-class families, small business owners, and rural residents.
  • Raise Costs and Lower the Quality of Coverage. The GOP budget requires states to add new copayments on Americans who rely on the ACA Medicaid expansion as well as raises premiums by changing the formula used for determining an individual or family’s premiums and cost-sharing. The proposal also removes regulations requiring insurers to offer high-quality coverage so that they can cover as little as 66% of costs but still be called a “Silver” plan.
  • Restrict Enrollment and Eligibility And Add Wasteful Paperwork Requirements. Republicans are not only making it harder for families to enroll in coverage by shortening the enrollment period and taking away low-income families’ ability to sign up for coverage outside of the six-week enrollment period but to also stay enrolled by establishing more paperwork burdens for enrolling and proving eligibility for tax credits. These policies will only end in millions of Americans being unable to access the coverage they need to stay healthy. 
  • Penalize Families For Unexpected Changes In Income. Under the GOP proposal, if low-income families experience a change in their circumstances, such as marriage, a promotion, or a new job, they could be penalized with thousands of dollars in additional payments around tax time. These repayments could be devastating for freelancers, gig workers, and small business owners, who make up a large share of marketplace enrollees.
  • Decimate ACA Medicaid Expansion. Republicans are cutting billions in Medicaid expansion dollars. This could impact 12 million Americans and force program repeals in several states. The reduction in Medicaid expansion funding may also force over 60 rural hospitals across the states affected to close.
ashoup
In Roundup

HEADLINES: House Republicans Bulldoze Health Care For Millions of Americans To Fund Tax Breaks for The Rich

Early this morning, House Republicans voted to pass their reviled spending bill with the largest cuts to Medicaid in history. National reporting highlights how this bill will raise costs and leave millions of Americans without life-saving health care coverage by gutting Medicaid and dismantling the ACA. Every single community across the country will feel the devastating effects of these cuts.

So-called moderate Republicans charged ahead with the radical bill that will force seniors out of nursing homes, jeopardize the health care of half of all children in America, take lifesaving care away from people with disabilities, and insert provisions that could trigger as many as nine states to end Medicaid expansion entirely. Nearly 14 million Americans are already expected to lose health care because of this bill, but with House Republicans’ last-minute changes, the number of hardworking Americans who will lose their coverage and care as a result will likely grow by millions more. 

The New Republic: House Republicans Just Touched the Third Rail

  • “House Republicans, as they rushed early Thursday morning to cut not quite $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next 10 years, were at best only dimly aware of this. They’re in for a terrible shock.”
  • “But today, Medicaid commands not merely a significant voting bloc, but a significant Republican voting bloc. Not many House Republicans wished to hear about that when they passed the budget reconciliation bill, 215–214.”

Rolling Stone: Trump Gloats Over Passage of Bill That Will Kick Millions Off Medicaid, Food Aid

  • “Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed the House of Representatives early Thursday morning, and the president couldn’t be more thrilled about being one step closer to kicking millions of Americans off of their health care coverage and food assistance programs.”
  • ““In just over 100 days you guys have gone from promising to lower costs to ripping away people’s health care. Of course you don’t want anybody to know what you’re doing here,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said during one session. “It’s because you know this bill betrays the people who voted for you.””

Mother Jones: House GOPers Just Voted for the Biggest Medicaid Cuts in History—After Promising to Protect It.

  • “House Republicans whose seats are not safe in the 2026 midterm elections voted early on Thursday morning to advance the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, endangering health care for millions of the poorest Americans. Several cast these votes after making promises to protect the Great Society program that provides health care to millions.”
  • “But the bill Republicans just passed is classic GOP: Cut vital benefits for the poor to line the pockets of the rich.”

MSNBC: It’s Not Just Medicaid: Why the Republicans’ Bill Would Likely Force Medicare Cuts, Too

  • “Despite Donald Trump’s promise not to cut the health care program, the GOP legislation would cut roughly $700 billion from Medicaid in the coming years, and with just hours remaining before the bill reached the floor, party leaders added new and punitive Medicaid provisions to shore up support from far-right members. But as important as the future of Medicaid is, the legislation’s impact on Medicare matters, too.”
  • “The CBO told the House that the Republicans’ reconciliation package would lead to $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, and two days later, 215 House Republicans voted for it anyway.”

Forbes: More Than 7 Million Could Lose Medicaid In House Megabill Approved Thursday: Here’s What To Know

  • “President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” in the final hour to move up the start date for Medicaid work requirements and prohibit Medicaid for gender-affirming care.”
  • “It would implement additional “eligibility and enrollment” rules, including new address verification standards, provider screening requirements and penalties for states that offer coverage to undocumented migrants. The section addressing “wasteful spending” calls for a prohibition on funding for gender transition procedures for both adults and minors under the federal Medicaid program and the state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). One of the ways the bill aims to tamp down on “abusive financing practices” is via a moratorium on new or increased provider taxes states collect to help pay for Medicaid expenses that aren’t covered by the federal government; proponents of the freeze argue states sometimes use the provider taxes to also pay providers, allowing states to report more Medicaid expenses and boost the matching funds they receive from the federal government. The legislation would increase “personal accountability,” primarily by mandating new “community engagement” requirements for Medicaid recipients to log at least 80 hours per month of work, community service or a work program, or be enrolled in an educational program for at least 40 hours per month—representing the largest Medicaid-related cuts in the megabill, according to the CBO.”

Common Dreams: ‘Call This What It Is—Theft’: Republicans Approve Largest Medicaid, SNAP Cuts in US History

  • “If enacted, the House GOP’s legislation would slash roughly $1 trillion combined from Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), potentially stripping health coverage and food aid from tens of millions of low-income Americans to help fund trillions of dollars in tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest. The bill, which runs over 1,100 pages, would also trigger cuts to Medicare.”
  • “”Let’s call this what it is—theft,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Rules Committee. “Stealing from those with the least to give to those with the most. It’s not just bad policy, it’s a betrayal of the American people.””

USA Today: House Passes Trump’s Deficit-Swelling Tax Bill, With Big Medicaid Changes

  • “Democrats have slammed the bill as a giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of people who benefit from social safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP. “This is one big, ugly bill that House Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of the American people under the cover of darkness,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said on the House floor in an early morning speech before the final vote.”
  • “Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance to more than 71 million low-income Americans, would undergo big changes. That includes new work requirements for adults enrolled in Medicaid expansion beginning in December of 2026, more frequent eligibility checks, and disincentives for states to cover unauthorized migrant children, among other provisions.”

The New York Times: Republicans Pass Strictest Medicaid Work Requirement They’ve Ever Put Forward

  • “The work requirement in the bill that just passed the House represents the strictest version Republicans in Congress have ever put forward. The reporting requirements are more stringent than in previous bills. It would be easier to lose benefits, and harder to re-enroll. And it would apply to a larger set of Medicaid recipients, including Americans previously determined to be too old to need such requirements.”
  • “Republican leadership has described the policy as combating “waste, fraud, and abuse.” President Trump has said no one will lose health insurance under the legislation. But experts say it would leave millions uninsured.”

HuffPost: Opinion: Sneaky New Move By Shameless Republicans Puts Millions Of American Lives In Danger.

  • “In the clearest sign that Republicans know what they are doing is not just wrong but shameful, they waited until late at night on Mother’s Day to release the text of Trump’s devastating “big, beautiful bill” that would gut Medicaid, hoping it would go unnoticed. Then, continuing the pattern of wanting to avoid attention, the GOP convened a meeting under the cover of darkness to debate the bill, whose funding cuts likely would take Medicaid away from my daughter and millions of other people with disabilities who rely on the essential program. Despite the gravity of the late-night meeting for millions of Americans, at least one GOP congressman slept through part of the discussion, seemingly unbothered by the deadly consequences for constituents in his district and beyond, including my own daughter.”
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