Republicans Aim To Punish States That Insure Unauthorized Immigrants
A GOP tax-and-spending bill the House approved Thursday would slash federal Medicaid reimbursement for states that offer health coverage to immigrants without legal status.
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A GOP tax-and-spending bill the House approved Thursday would slash federal Medicaid reimbursement for states that offer health coverage to immigrants without legal status.
Late last year, South Carolina Medicaid approved a class of medications known as GLP-1s to treat obesity, placing it among the few state programs covering these effective but expensive drugs. But access remains limited, even for patients covered by Medicaid, because of stringent prerequisites that must be satisfied before starting the drug.
One thing experts agree on: The damage from the funding cuts will be varied and immense.
The Department of Justice alleges that several major health insurers paid brokerages 鈥渉undreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks鈥 to get agents to steer consumers into their Medicare Advantage plans, allegations the insurers strongly dispute.
GOP-controlled House committees approved parts of President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渙ne big, beautiful bill鈥 this week, including more than $700 billion in cuts to health programs over the next decade 鈥 mostly from Medicaid, which covers people with low incomes or disabilities. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office and told lawmakers that Americans shouldn鈥檛 take medical advice from him. Julie Appleby of 吃瓜不打烊, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he鈥檚 proud his state expanded health care to all low-income residents regardless of immigration status but that tough budget times call for some adjustments. The Democrat鈥檚 new budget proposes scaling back benefits to adults living in the country illegally, as well as charging them a $100 monthly premium.
Donald Trump is back in the White House, the GOP controls Congress, and Republicans have dusted off their 2017 plans to reshape Medicaid, the government health program for those with low incomes or disabilities.
Gov. Gavin Newsom was elected to office in 2019 on a promise of universal health care. He dramatically expanded coverage, but after six years, the Democrat is forced to contemplate deep cuts 鈥 including to the nation鈥檚 largest health care expansion to immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.
Two stories from Washington, D.C., give listeners a sense of what changes the Trump administration has been making to health policy, with 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner and Arthur Allen.
As California鈥檚 budget deadline looms, state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a physician-turned-lawmaker, says state leaders may soon have to make some tough decisions on health care spending. With the state鈥檚 Medi-Cal program billions of dollars short, California鈥檚 health care safety net is at risk 鈥 even without federal cuts to Medicaid.
The administration is facing a May 12 deadline to declare if it will defend Biden-era regulations that aim to enforce laws requiring parity in insurance coverage of mental and physical health care.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade 鈥 as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.
Congressional Republicans are looking to cut at least $880 billion from a pool of federal funding that includes Medicaid 鈥 and the program is likely to take a major hit. A previous budget crunch in Missouri offers a window into how cuts ripple through people鈥檚 lives.
On the surface, President Donald Trump embraced the MAHA movement with a pledge to end the nation鈥檚 high rates of chronic disease. But the broader Trump agenda may prove to be the biggest barrier this effort confronts.
In recent weeks, Social Security has been plagued by problems related to technology, system errors, and even the marking of living people as dead.
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This fall, the U.S. Government Accountability Office expects to release a report on how much it costs to run Georgia Pathways to Coverage 鈥 the country鈥檚 only active Medicaid work requirement program 鈥 as other states and Congress consider similar programs.
Monica Soni, Covered California鈥檚 chief medical officer, oversees an effort to hold health plans financially accountable for the quality of care they provide, including childhood vaccination rates, which have fallen in California and nationwide. She worries federal spending cuts could soon bring turbulence to the state鈥檚 Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Carmen Aiken of Chicago thought their medical appointment would be covered because the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to pay for a long list of preventive services. But after the appointment, Aiken received a bill for more than $1,400.
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