How Medicaid cuts could affect Washington state
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Potential cuts to Medicaid could worsen Washington state's multibillion-dollar budget shortfall and threaten health benefits for nearly 2 million Washingtonians, state officials warn.
Why it matters: A budget resolution that the Republican-controlled U.S. House passed last week looks to cut up to $2 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years, with Medicaid a likely target for up to $880 billion of those cuts.
The big picture: The safety net program serves nearly 73 million Americans who could face coverage and benefit losses, Axios' April Rubin reports.
- More than one-fifth of state residents rely on Medicaid for their health coverage.
What they're saying: Democrat Joe Fitzgibbon, Washington state's House majority leader, told reporters the cuts "would put at risk the lives of our constituents, particularly our poorest constituents."
- If Congress follows through with such a plan, Washington state would have to either cut health care services or find state money to cover the loss, he told Axios.
- That could prove difficult when the state faces its own estimated budget deficit of at least $10 billion.
Washington's members of Congress also sounded the alarm. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) warned that seniors could be forced out of long-term care facilities, among other impacts.
- "Hospitals will close their doors as this funding drops. Moms and babies will lose health care coverage," Murray said at a press conference Thursday.
Between the lines: The specific cuts that House Republicans would make to achieve their budget reduction targets — designed to help offset about $4.5 trillion in proposed tax cuts — remain unclear.
- The resolution the House passed last week says $880 billion in savings would have to be found by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees Medicaid, leaving few other options than cutting the health care program, the New York Times reported.
- House GOP leaders have said they'd focus on weeding out fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid, a sentiment echoed by President Trump.
What we're watching: Members of the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate have their own priorities, having advanced a narrower budget bill than what the U.S. House passed last week.
- Both chambers would have to pass any budget plan before it could take effect.
State of play: The Washington state Health Care Authority, which runs the state's Medicaid program, told Axios it is "closely monitoring federal developments" — but "at this time, Washingtonians on Medicaid are not at risk of losing their coverage."