Republicans claim cost-saving measures will preserve Medicaid, but Democrats argue it's "not possible."
Rep. Diana DeGette addressed attendees at PMG’s Health Care Summit, stating that there isn’t sufficient waste in Medicaid to uncover the savings that the GOP is claiming.
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The Trump administration and Republicans have asserted their ability to reduce Medicaid's budget without impacting patient care through efficiencies.
However, Colorado Representative Diana DeGette, the top Democrat on an influential healthcare panel, disagrees.
“We just simply don't have that much money,” DeGette stated during PMG’s Health Care Summit on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump has assigned Republicans the task of financing his agenda, which encompasses enhanced border security and an expansion of energy resources alongside tax cuts. House leaders claim they can uncover $880 billion in savings to fund this plan.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee, on which DeGette serves, is now examining the sources of these cuts if adequate savings cannot be achieved by eradicating waste, fraud, and abuse. Democrats refer to nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office data, suggesting that lawmakers will need to trim Medicaid, the publicly funded health insurance program that supports over 75 million low-income Americans.
Earlier at the summit, Representative Vern Buchanan expressed that he is not in favor of cutting Medicaid but mentioned potential avenues to secure funding without reducing benefits.
“There are a lot of inefficiencies. We've got to find a way to be able to... do things better for less," he remarked.
DeGette takes a different stance. As the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, she has explored alternative areas for cuts to cover the $880 billion required to finance Trump’s agenda.
“We realized all the rest of the spending in the Energy and Commerce Committee, all the rest of it is $500 billion. So if you zeroed out everything else that we do, you’d still be $330 billion short,” she explained.
Moreover, she argued against the notion that states could compensate if the federal government reduces its Medicaid contributions.
“This is going to hurt the red states the most because they won't raise the money,” she asserted. “But it's also going to hurt blue states like Colorado and California, where we have constitutional amendments that say you can't deficit spend.”
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
However, Colorado Representative Diana DeGette, the top Democrat on an influential healthcare panel, disagrees.
“We just simply don't have that much money,” DeGette stated during PMG’s Health Care Summit on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump has assigned Republicans the task of financing his agenda, which encompasses enhanced border security and an expansion of energy resources alongside tax cuts. House leaders claim they can uncover $880 billion in savings to fund this plan.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee, on which DeGette serves, is now examining the sources of these cuts if adequate savings cannot be achieved by eradicating waste, fraud, and abuse. Democrats refer to nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office data, suggesting that lawmakers will need to trim Medicaid, the publicly funded health insurance program that supports over 75 million low-income Americans.
Earlier at the summit, Representative Vern Buchanan expressed that he is not in favor of cutting Medicaid but mentioned potential avenues to secure funding without reducing benefits.
“There are a lot of inefficiencies. We've got to find a way to be able to... do things better for less," he remarked.
DeGette takes a different stance. As the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, she has explored alternative areas for cuts to cover the $880 billion required to finance Trump’s agenda.
“We realized all the rest of the spending in the Energy and Commerce Committee, all the rest of it is $500 billion. So if you zeroed out everything else that we do, you’d still be $330 billion short,” she explained.
Moreover, she argued against the notion that states could compensate if the federal government reduces its Medicaid contributions.
“This is going to hurt the red states the most because they won't raise the money,” she asserted. “But it's also going to hurt blue states like Colorado and California, where we have constitutional amendments that say you can't deficit spend.”
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
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