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House Committee Advances Troubling Bill Cutting Billions from Medicaid 

Posted
Press Releases, Health Care, National

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2025
Contact: Emma Bittner
(972) 510-3395 | Emma.Bittner@younginvincibles.org

House Committee Advances Troubling Bill Cutting Billions from Medicaid 

(Washington, DC) –  Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, advanced their proposed $912 billion in devastating cuts, with the majority, $715 billion, coming from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This legislation  is the largest cut to Medicaid in history.

The bill includes significant reductions to Medicaid totaling to at least $715 billion dollars. A recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office estimates this will result in 10.3 million Medicaid enrollees losing health care coverage over the next 10 years, forcing people to forgo life-saving care, medications, and incur medical debt. Among the most damaging proposals:

  • Imposes work requirements that mandates low-income, childless adults work a minimum of 80 hours a month to be eligible for Medicaid. This is a less flexible version of the 2018 Arkansas policy that led to 18,000 people losing coverage.
  • Increases the co-payment amount, $35 for many medical services, for those above the federal poverty limit, $15,650 for a single person, will have to pay.
  • Reduces federal funding for childless adults without disabilities from 90 percent to 80 percent in states continuing to fund health coverage for undocumented immigrants, resulting in significant cuts to California, New York and Washington.
  • Reverses efforts to simplify enrollment and renewal for eligible Americans by requiring re-enrollment every six months instead of annually, shortening enrollment periods, tightening income verification and restricting access for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. 
  • Prohibits Medicaid funding for health care providers who offer abortion services, using language similar to what was included in the 2017 failed attempt to repeal the ACA.
  • Includes several additional changes to Medicaid, such as baring coverage of gender-affirming care for minors.

Advancing this bill makes it abundantly clear where Congress’s priorities lie: the health and well-being of young adults take a backseat to the interests of billionaires and large corporations. If passed, this legislation will impose historic cuts that will be disastrous, and potentially deadly, to millions.

In response, Krystal D. Milam, National Policy & Advocacy Director at Young Invincibles said:

“It is shameful to gut Medicaid and kick millions off of their health coverage all to afford even more tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. You simply cannot cut $715 billion from Medicaid without hurting young people, children, pregnant people, and people with disabilities. 

These cuts might be dressed up as work requirements, but we know the true intention is creating unnecessarily barriers that result in young people losing their health coverage. Most eligible Medicaid recipients already work – 92% are either employed or would qualify for exemptions. Implementing work requirements has been a long standing goal of the Republican party and when it has been tried before, they result in people losing their health coverage without leading to higher employment. 

With so many signs that the economy is on shaky footing, the last thing young people need is losing our health coverage. Instead of working to lower health costs, Congress is rushing reckless cuts to Medicaid that will make health care more expensive for all of us. The House of Representatives must vote against this package and stop this budget reconciliation effort. It’s time for members of Congress to stand up for young people, not fall in line with the demands of billionaires.”

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Young Invincibles (YI) is a national advocacy and policy nonprofit organization focused on amplifying the voice of young people in the political process at the local, state, and federal levels. YI focuses on issues impacting young adults ages 18 to 34 in higher education, health care, economic security, and civic engagement. Our offices include Washington, D.C., California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Texas. For more information, please contact Emma Bittner at (972) 510-3395 or emma.bittner@younginvincibles.org