Guthrie speaks at a press conference in 2022. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Incoming House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie is considering caps on Medicaid spending as part of a new pledge to cut $2.5 trillion in spending, he said Friday.
Why it matters: Caps on Medicaid spending are sure to be controversial and lead to attacks that beneficiaries could lose coverage.
Driving the news: House Republicans in a conference meeting Friday discussed a new pledge to cut $2.5 trillion in spending as part of raising the debt ceiling.
- Asked by Axios if that is realistic, Guthrie said: "Making the pledge to say we're going to find $2.5 trillion over 10 years, we're gonna have to, I mean otherwise we're gonna bankrupt the country."
- "I've been a big proponent of per capita allotments" in Medicaid, he said. That refers to an idea also known as per capita caps, a version of which was included in the failed 2017 ACA repeal and replace measure.
Medicare benefit cuts are "off the table, as you know," given President-elect Trump's pledge not to cut Medicare, Guthrie said.
- And he noted that Social Security cannot be cut under the rules of the reconciliation process.
- "We don't want to affect Medicare benefits whatsoever," he said, adding it is unclear to him whether Trump's pledge covers Medicare savings that do not cut benefits.
- "I don't know if the president means that's off the table or not," he said.
