Republicans are reportedly willing to cut Medicaid funding to pay for Donald Trump’s promised immigration crackdown and tax cuts that would primarily benefit the wealthy.
According to the New York Times, Republicans in the House and Senate have floated a number of ideas, many of which would target lower-income Americans, to cover the cost of extending Trump’s tax cuts from 2017.
Among the proposals is a plan to reduce access to Medicaid, the government program that provides health insurance to low-income Americans, which would result in 600,000 people losing access to healthcare.
Trump has cited the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a major accomplishment of his first term. The legislation, which reduced the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, is set to expire at the end of 2025, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending it will add $4.6 trillion to the deficit.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, but with the 2025 deadline approaching, Republicans are scrambling to find a way to fund that pledge, as well as the funds needed for Trump’s desired immigration crackdown.
Along with the Medicaid cut, which would impose work requirements that would effectively deprive 600,000 people of healthcare coverage, Republicans are considering ending Medicaid for non-US citizens and repealing Biden-era tax credits aimed at lowering health-care costs, the New York Times reported.
A 50-page document circulated among congressional Republicans also proposes taxing income from scholarships and fellowships, rolling back climate change initiatives launched by the Biden administration, and raising taxes on employees who can use a free gym at work.
Another proposal calls for changes to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, that would reduce coverage for some low-income Americans, according to Newsweek.
In July, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center reported that households earning $450,000 or more would benefit from nearly half of the extended tax cuts. The median household income in the United States is $80,610, with 95% of American households earning less than $400,000 per year.
Biden had promised to extend the tax cuts only to families earning $400,000 or less per year.
