Hospital Execs Lambaste GOP Medicaid Proposal As Death Knell For Care

Becker's Hospital Review: 'Cuts Of This Magnitude Cannot Be Absorbed': Hospitals Slam Republicans' Medicaid Proposal
Rick Pollack, President and CEO of the American Hospital Association, described the cuts as “a devastating blow to the health and well-being of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens and communities.” Bruce Siegel, MD, president and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals, warned that essential hospitals — which often operate on thin margins and serve low-income populations — would be hit hard by the proposed cuts. “Slashing Medicaid funding is not just a numbers game — it is an action that will rip health care access from communities across America. ... These hospitals, which already operate on thin margins, cannot absorb such losses without reducing services or closing their doors altogether.”(Condon, 5/12)

The Hill: Congressional Budget Office Says House GOP Plan Exceeds $880 Billion Savings Target
The Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, surpassed its target of finding $880 billion in savings to help pay for legislation to extend President Trump’s tax cuts and other priorities, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In a brief letter to Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the CBO said the committee’s reconciliation recommendations would reduce deficits by more than $880 billion by 2034 and “would not increase on-budget deficits in any year after 2034.” (Weixel, 5/12)

More on the Medicaid cuts —

The New York Times: In Trump Tax Package, Republicans Target SNAP Food Program
House Republicans on Monday proposed a series of sharp restrictions on the federal anti-hunger program known as food stamps, seeking to limit its funding and benefits as part of a sprawling package to advance President Trump’s tax cuts. The proposal, included in a draft measure to be considered by the House Agriculture Committee this week, would require states to supply some of the funding for food stamps while forcing more of its beneficiaries to obtain employment in exchange for federal aid. (Romm, 5/12)

Bloomberg: Drug Middlemen Reforms Revived By Republicans In Budget Bill
House Republicans revived a set of policies that would change how prescription drug middlemen do business, as President Donald Trump again denounced the industry, sending shares of some of the companies down Monday. The budget proposal from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce includes a set of reforms that Congress considered last year but ultimately didn’t pass. It would remove one method that the companies, which negotiate with drugmakers and pharmacies on behalf of employers, health insurers and government programs, use to boost profits. (Tozzi, 5/12)

Fierce Healthcare: Report: Tax, Medicaid Cuts Largely Benefit High-Income Families
House Republicans have unveiled their plans to cut federal spending and extend tax cuts, but experts warn that funding the cuts by slashing Medicaid and other entitlements will largely benefit families with higher incomes. The House Energy & Commerce Committee released its budget reconciliation proposal late Sunday, after being tasked with identifying at least $880 billion in spending cuts. A preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $912 billion, with $715 billion of that coming from cuts in healthcare. (Minemyer, 5/12)

The Washington Post: Medicaid Cuts May Threaten Care For Nursing Home And Elder-Care Residents
Traversing the halls of his nursing home in a wheelchair, Owen Allen listened to a visiting guitarist play “Sweet Caroline,” then chipped away at a thousand-piece puzzle in the sunroom. Since muscular dystrophy struck and his legs started giving out, the 64-year-old Atlanta native relies on Medicaid to keep him in the 130-bed home where staff help him pull weights to regain his strength. As a House Republican committee examines steep cuts to Medicaid at a pivotal hearing Tuesday, nursing home residents like Allen are among the less well-known recipients who could be affected. (Nirappil, 5/12)

NPR: Medicaid Cuts Could Mean More Drug Overdose Deaths
A coalition of addiction experts said more than 300 physicians, harm reduction workers and researchers signed a letter delivered to Congress late on Monday warning of "dire consequences" if the U.S. cuts funding for programs that help communities battle the drug overdose epidemic. "[W]e are seeing drastic cuts to key agencies," the letter said, pointing to proposals in the White House budget for 2026 that would slash billions of dollars from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and other programs. (Mann, 5/13)

Also —

Politico: Centrists Beat Out Hard-Liners In The New GOP Medicaid Plan. The Fight’s Not Over
House Republican leaders appear to have won support from key moderates by backing off the most controversial proposals to overhaul Medicaid — but it has created new risks for the GOP’s domestic policy megabill. Fierce pressure is now building from hospitals and clinics to the Medicaid cuts that have survived while conservative hard-liners are threatening to withhold their votes if they don’t get deeper trims to the safety-net program. (Leonard and King, 5/12)

The New York Times: Republicans Want Budget Cuts, But Not The Political Consequences 
House Republicans face a fundamental problem as they reach a critical phase in crafting their “one big, beautiful bill” to enact President Trump’s agenda. They want to slice deeply into federal programs without acknowledging that they are doing any meaningful damage to their constituents or states. This vexing situation arises from the natural tension between the conservative determination to roll back federal spending and the tendency of politicians to want to keep their jobs. Doing the former can work against the latter. (Hulse, 5/12)