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Sen. Merkley: HHS's $50 billion rural grant masks alleged $900 billion in Medicaid cuts, could drive premiums up
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Summary
Sen. Jeff Merkley released a video criticizing President Trump's first eight months in office, saying an HHS post celebrating a $50 billion rural health grant glosses over what the clip describes as more than $900 billion in Medicaid cuts and citing an analysis that premiums could rise 75%.
Sen. Jeff Merkley released a short video criticizing President Trump's first eight months, saying the administration has "made America sicker and poor" and highlighting an HHS social-media post praising a $50 billion rural health program.
The clip, which Merkley introduced, quotes an unidentified speaker who said the $50 billion "was already in the big beautiful bill" and was used to partially offset "over $900,000,000,000" in cuts to Medicaid. The speaker argued the grant represents a small fraction of those alleged cuts and criticized the administration for presenting the grant as a win.
Why it matters: Medicaid is a major federal program that finances care for millions of low-income Americans and supports many rural hospitals and nursing homes. The video asserts that large Medicaid reductions would increase the number of uninsured people, raise insurance premiums and strain hospitals that serve low-income and rural communities.
The clip also referenced pending congressional fights over Affordable Care Act tax credits, saying Republicans were "fighting to block an extension of ACA tax credits," which the narrator said would further push premiums higher. The video cites "an analysis by a nonpartisan group"—not named in the clip—saying the combined effect of rising premiums and the loss of tax credits could lead to people paying about 75% more for insurance next year.
The video includes an extended analogy: "It's like if your boss cut your salary by $900 and then handed you back $50 and then posted online about how generous they were," a line used to underscore the speaker's argument that the $50 billion grant is small relative to the cuts described.
The clip closes by spelling out the downstream consequences it attributes to higher uninsurance rates: fewer preventive visits, delayed care until emergencies, longer ER waits, and the transfer of uncompensated-care costs across the health system.
The video attributes its claims to an unidentified narrator and cites a nonpartisan analysis without naming the organization. There was no formal vote, motion, or additional documentation provided in the clip; Merkley introduced the video to his audience as evidence for his critique.
