Budget Reconciliation Bill Passes House With Large Medicaid Impact

On May 22, the House of Representatives narrowly passed its budget reconciliation legislation seeking to extend tax cuts and other parts of the Administration’s agenda while significantly cutting government spending on other programs, specifically Medicaid. Medicaid provisions in the bill include new work requirements, limiting states’ use of the provider tax under the Medicaid program, increasing Medicaid eligibility verification and reducing the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid Expansion states who use their program to provide health care for undocumented immigrants, among other things. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the House bill would reduce Medicaid spending by $625 billion and that 7.6 million people in the United States will lose health insurance by 2034. While Senate Republican leadership has made a goal of passing its version of legislation by July 4, there are already Republican challenges to the House-passed bill as well as Senate parliamentary requirements that could significantly alter provisions.