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A Health Policy Blog
Statement by Joan Alker Calling on Trump Administration to Clarify Whether or Not OMB Memo M-25-13 Would Pause Medicaid and CHIP Funds
The following is a statement by Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families, in response to the OMB Memo January 28, 2025FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Statement by Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families “Last night, a memo (M-25-13) from […]
The Truth about Waste and Abuse in Medicaid
“States are abusing federal Medicaid policy. There is an enormous amount of waste, fraud and abuse in the program.” – Brian Blase, President, Paragon Health Institute, as reported in Stat (January 6, 2025) This falsehood is one premise for the proposals to cut federal Medicaid spending by $2.3 trillion (with a “t”) over the next […]
Cutting Federal Medicaid Payments to States: Bad News for Their Credit Ratings
Medicaid is the nation’s largest health insurer, covering over 70 million Americans. And, as a new CCF report documents, it is a particularly important source of coverage for children and adults in rural areas and small towns. Republicans in the House are reportedly discussing (here and here) cutting federal Medicaid spending by up to $2.3 […]
House Budget Committee Circulates New Detailed List of Budget Reconciliation Options Including Draconian Medicaid Cuts Within House Republican Caucus
On Friday, January 17, Politico and other news outlets reported that the House Budget Committee distributed to the House Republican Caucus a new 50-page list of mandatory spending and tax proposals that may be included in budget reconciliation legislation. The new list includes not only the draconian Medicaid cuts of up to $2.3 trillion over […]
The Tennessee “Shared Savings” Waiver: Not a Medicaid Block Grant
As our colleague Edwin Park has explained, there is keen interest on the part of some Congressional Republican leaders in capping federal Medicaid payments to states, ideally by converting Medicaid from a health insurance program into a block grant. Currently, the federal government matches state spending for the costs of health and long-term care services […]
House Budget Committee Chair Pushes House Republican Caucus to Adopt His List of Draconian Medicaid Cuts
According to press reports, at a January 4th meeting of the House Republican caucus, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) presented policy options to deeply cut federal Medicaid spending, including a proposal to convert Medicaid to a per capita cap, as part of budget reconciliation legislation this year. Now, according to a […]