The Congressional Budget Office reviewed the leading proposals from Republicans who are trying to cut the costs of a program that serves roughly 72 million poor and disabled Americans.
As Republicans in Congress wrestle with options for cutting Medicaid costs, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the leading plans under consideration could yield significant savings — but would also increase the share of Americans who are uninsured.
The budget office considered several options as Republicans attempt to find hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts from Medicaid spending to help offset the costs of tax cuts they hope to extend. But two leading proposals that would help reach that goal would leave millions without health coverage, according to the office’s estimates.
One option, to limit the way states use a tax loophole to increase federal spending on Medicaid, would save $668 billion but cause 3.9 million Americans to go without health insurance.
Another option, which would lower federal spending on Medicaid beneficiaries who are part of the Obamacare expansion of the program, would save the government $710 billion over a decade, but cause 2.4 million people to become uninsured.
But after a meeting with centrist Republican lawmakers on Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson said he had ruled out cutting the funding formula for working-age adults who are covered under the Affordable Care Act expansion.
The budget office released the estimates Wednesday in a letter to Democratic lawmakers in the Senate Finance and House Energy and Commerce committees, who had requested them from the office.