Lawmaker warns Senate version would deepen Medicaid cuts, projects about 11 million could lose coverage

A lawmaker who spoke in the transcript said the Senate version of the measure would increase proposed Medicaid cuts from $760 billion to $841 billion and warned that the change could strip coverage from roughly 11 million people over the next decade.

"The senate version actually increased the amount of Medicaid cuts ... from $760 billion to $841 billion," the lawmaker said, adding that "something around 11,000,000 people are projected to lose their Medicaid over the coming decade." The speaker framed the shift as a reversal of gains made after the Affordable Care Act, saying the change "is gonna send it halfway back to where we were."

The speaker contrasted the proposed rollback with the period following passage of the Affordable Care Act, saying, "We did a really great job of reducing the uninsured population in this country, and this is gonna send it halfway back to where we were." The lawmaker also characterized the scale of the proposed cuts as unprecedented: "I do not know of an example in history where we have instituted a major social benefit ... and then rolled it back so much. This is unprecedented in our history. We've always moved forward, not backwards."

The transcript attributes the numerical totals for the proposed cuts and the projection of people losing coverage to the lawmaker’s remarks; the excerpt does not identify the legislative measure by bill number, specify the fiscal years covered, or cite the source of the projection. The transcript also does not record any formal vote, motion, or further procedural action on the measure.

The remarks in the transcript speak to potential changes in federal Medicaid funding levels and the likely impact on enrollment, but do not provide supporting analyses, cost-estimate documents, or the projection methodology in the excerpt provided. No response or rebuttal appears in the supplied transcript.