A newly released analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has confirmed that proposals pushed by Republicans in Congress to slash Medicaid spending would result in millions of Americans losing health coverage. The analysis arrives just days before the House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to vote on several of these drastic policy changes. The CBO report, addressed to Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden and House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr., outlines five Republican-backed Medicaid policy options that would significantly reduce federal spending. The agency estimates that under the proposed changes, as many as 8.6 million people could lose Medicaid coverage, and up to 3.9 million would become uninsured. “This CBO report further confirms what we already knew – that Republicans in Congress are willing to sell out millions of working families to give their billionaire friends another massive tax break,” said Kobie Christian, spokesperson for Unrig Our Economy. “Republicans in Congress have been gaslighting the American public by claiming to be against Medicaid cuts, while actively trying to take away health care from millions of working-class Americans.”
The proposals outlined in the CBO’s letter are capping federal contributions to Medicaid, reducing the matching rate for states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and repealing enrollment rules designed to streamline access to Medicaid and CHIP. Each of the first four policy options would force states to respond by cutting provider payments, reducing benefits, and slashing enrollment. The fifth option alone—repealing the Eligibility and Enrollment final rule—would eliminate coverage for 2.3 million people, most of whom are low-income seniors and people with disabilities. “Donald Trump and Rubber Stamp Republicans in Congress are lying to the American people about their plans to enact the largest cut to Medicaid in our nation’s history,” warned Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The CBO analysis confirms House Democrats’ warnings that the GOP proposals would force states to raise taxes, cut education spending, or push people off health insurance,” Jeffries said. “Rather than working to improve the Medicaid program, congressional Republicans are continuing a 15-year-old fight to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” noted Andrea Ducas, vice president of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. “This new CBO report confirms that each of congressional Republicans’ latest proposals would kick millions of the most vulnerable Americans off their health care, all to pay for tax giveaways for the president’s billionaire donors.”
The report also arrives as Senate Republicans voted 53–47 to confirm Frank Bisignano—former Wall Street executive and self-described “DOGE person”—as the new head of the Social Security Administration, drawing harsh criticism from Democrats and advocates. During his confirmation hearing, Bisignano dodged questions from Senators Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden about the agency’s cuts and the use of cryptocurrency-related tools in sensitive federal databases. In recent months, under the Trump administration, the SSA has shuttered field offices, laid off 7,000 employees, and made it harder for Americans—especially seniors and rural residents—to access benefits. Reports from outlets including Axios, NPR, and the Washington Post highlight the collapse of customer service at the SSA, long wait times, and the inability of many Americans to apply for benefits online or by phone. “Republicans just handed over the future of Americans’ Social Security to Frank Bisignano, a Wall Street stooge,” said Ken Martin, Chair of the Democratic National Committee. “Just like Trump and Musk, Bisignano will gladly put Social Security on the chopping block to line the pockets of billionaires and special interests.”
Democrats argue the Republican strategy—cutting Medicaid and destabilizing Social Security—amounts to an all-out war on working-class Americans. The CBO report estimates the GOP’s Medicaid policy shifts would reduce the federal deficit by as much as $710 billion over the next decade, but at a devastating cost: loss of care, rising out-of-pocket expenses, and widening inequities in health access. “Crafting health care policy is not an academic exercise; for tens of thousands of Americans, it’s a matter of life or death,” Ducas noted.
