AARP says no to Medicaid cuts

Health Care

EXCLUSIVE

AARP calls on Congress to reject Medicaid cuts

The nation's leading nonprofit for seniors urged congressional leadership to reject calls for Medicaid cuts, stating too many Americans rely on services provided by the program.

In letters exclusively provided to The Hill, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs Bill Sweeney addressed leaders of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Senate Finance panel.

“More than half of all the funds for long-term care in America come from Medicaid. As our country gets older, and as millions of Baby Boomers continue to age, our country is on the brink of a serious long-term care crisis,” wrote Sweeney.

“AARP would welcome the long-overdue debate about how to address this challenge, which should involve reforms to remove Medicaid’s bias toward institutional care and increased support for families who take care of their loved ones at home. Large-scale cuts, however, threaten millions of seniors with disruption to the care they need,” he added.

Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report that found Republicans won’t be able to meet their goal of cutting $2 trillion in federal spending without cutting into Medicaid.

The federal government spends $381 billion on programs other than Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which are under the jurisdiction of the E&C Committee, according to the CBO. The GOP-led panel is tasked with finding $880 billion in cuts.

As more than half of that $381 billion has already been paid for, cutting all the programs excluding Medicaid and CHIPS would only save up to $135 billion, the CBO found. In 2024, federal Medicaid and CHIPS funding amounted to $584 billion. The program, jointly funded by federal and state dollars, covers more than 83 million people.

AARP, which represents nearly 40 million members, is urging lawmakers to rein in any cuts.

“We urge the Committee to protect Medicaid’s mission to give those most in need access to health care and long-term care,” Sweeney wrote Thursday. “We respectfully urge you to reject proposals that would cut services or eligibility, shift costs to states, or burden older Americans with additional red tape or reporting requirements.”

Congressional Democrats have put a focus on Medicaid, accusing the GOP of not being transparent with their plans and seeking to put a focus on the topic, among others, during President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress this week.

Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other Republican leaders argue they are not targeting Medicaid. They say the savings will come largely from weeding out waste, fraud and abuse while also expanding work requirements for some adults receiving benefits

Johnson last week in a CNN interview said some of the steepest potential cuts, like a change that would cap federal payments based on population rather than the current open-ended entitlement, are off the table.

Trump also told reporters last week he wasn't going to cut Medicaid.

“I have said it so many times, you shouldn’t be asking me that question,” Trump said, invoking George H.W.'s now infamous promise not to raise taxes. “This will not be ‘read my lips.’ It won’t be ‘read my lips’ anymore: We’re not going to touch it.”

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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