GOP May Kick 300,000 More Off Healthcare to Help Find $200 Billion for Trump's Iran War
Other critics said:
- "Is this America First?"
- "You know who isn't losing their government subsidized healthcare over this war that their government started? Israelis."
- "Republicans would rather set money on fire than try to help a single American see a doctor."
- "Cutting healthcare to pay for another regime change war in the Middle East. It's like GOP want to lose in November."
- "Are they calling this strategy Project Blue Wave?"
- "This should surprise no one: MAGA wants to pay for a war that no one wants by chipping away at your healthcare."
Michael Hardaway, a geopolitical strategist who has worked for top Democrats, argued that they "must convert this into a House AND Senate majority in November," noting that Republicans "took healthcare away from millions of Americans to pay for tax cuts for the 1%."
That was last year, when congressional Republicans and Trump used the budget reconciliation process to pass their so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Between $1 trillion cuts to Medicaid over the next decade and failing to extend expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, the OBBBA is expected to strip healthcare coverage from up to 15 million Americans.
While the impacts of the OBBBA will play out over years, already, "in red states and blue states alike, Republican healthcare cuts are hitting communities like a wrecking ball," Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said last week, while releasing a related report with House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ).
Wyden and Pallone found that over half of the people who reenrolled in an ACA plan this year have had to or plan to reduce spending on other essentials; at least 19 health facilities have closed across 11 states; and nearly 500 employees were laid off in four states because of the GOP's healthcare cuts last year.
"Despite attempts by Trump and his allies to cast blame elsewhere, the stories and facts are rolling in from across the country," Wyden said. "Democrats will not stop elevating the voices of Americans whose health is in harm's way as a result of Republicans' healthcare cuts."
One proposal that the GOP considered but ultimately did not include in the OBBBA related to ACA cost-sharing reductions. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the specific policy considered last year would save $31 billion but leave 300,000 more Americans uninsured through 2034.
Reporting emerged last week that House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) wants to bring back the push for that policy. It quickly spurred criticism, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) saying: "Republicans in Congress want to cut Americans' healthcare to pay for more war in Iran. Let that sink in."
"Republicans ransacked $1 trillion from Medicaid, and then they more than doubled premiums for over 20 million Americans in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations," Leslie Dach, chair of the advocacy group Protect Our Care, said in a statement last week. "Now, care for 15 million working Americans will be ripped away, nursing homes and hospitals are on the chopping block nationwide, and Americans are buried under skyrocketing healthcare hikes."
"But that's not enough for Republicans who have been at war with working families' healthcare for decades—now they want to slash healthcare even more to bankroll the war in the Middle East and to fund ICE, Trump's unaccountable, lawless paramilitary force," Dach continued, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "The American people reject these Republican priorities and will make their voice known in November."
Axios reported Monday on Arrington's preferred timeline for a new budget package: "60 to 90 days," he said.
Arrington is also eyeing some potential changes to Medicare, which provides health insurance coverage to Americans age 65 and older, according to Axios:
- One, known as "site-neutral" payments, would equalize payment across hospital outpatient facilities and doctors' offices. A second would crack down on what critics say is insurance company gaming of the Medicare Advantage system through "upcoding" of patients' medical conditions.
- Arrington expressed skepticism that either would be included, saying they'd open up "a false narrative that we're cutting Medicare."
As for Medicaid, one of the programs attacked by the OBBBA, Arrington told the outlet that there is hesitancy "to open that back up," but some policies considered in 2025 could be revived.
In a Monday statement, Democratic National Committee rapid response director Kendall Witmer called out Trump and Vice President JD Vance for past and possible future GOP healthcare cuts, accusing them of breaking their campaign promises.
"Donald Trump and Republicans already made the largest cuts to healthcare in history, causing healthcare costs to skyrocket for millions of Americans while billionaires and big corporations get massive tax cuts," Witmer said. "Now, Republicans want to slash even more healthcare funding for working families to pay for their war with Iran."
"After promising on the campaign trail to stop the endless wars, reduce the national debt, and lower costs," Witmer added, "Trump and JD Vance have done the opposite: putting everyday Americans on the chopping block to wage their deadly and costly war of choice."
