Democratic governors warned en masse Monday that it will be “impossible” for states to make up for the hundreds of billions in Medicaid spending cuts that House Republicans are proposing.
Why it matters: The country’s 23 Democratic governors are trying to amplify their Medicaid message by speaking in a unified voice.
- The proposed spending cuts are “disastrous,” the governors said in a statement first shared with Axios.
- The group includes seven Democratic governors who run states won by President Trump in 2024. They also represent five of the seven swing states and more than a majority of the country’s population.
Driving the news: House Republicans on Monday released the text of their plans to cut billions from Medicaid, including imposing work requirements and cutting reimbursement rates for states that offer services to undocumented migrants.
- They will start to mark up the legislation in committee on Tuesday.
- The Congressional Budget Office has not calculated the exact amount Republicans would reduce spending by, but they estimated on Monday that the overall cuts from the Energy and Commerce committee — which covers the Medicaid budget — would be more than $880 billion.
What they’re saying: “The notion that states will respond to massive cuts to federally appropriated dollars by backfilling with state resources is simply inaccurate and impossible,” the Democratic governors said.
- The governors also focused on proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). House Republicans have proposed that states pay for a share of the benefits for the first time.
- “These proposals are not just a ‘cost shift’ to states, they are cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and the social safety net that supports millions of Americans,” the Democrats said.
