House Committee Advances Changes to Medicaid After Marathon Hearing

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved changes to Medicaid that will reduce federal spending by $712 billion over 10 years.  The approval came in a party-line 30–24 on May 14 after a marathon session lasting more than 26 hours, and marked the first step toward passage of a larger bill that is intended to fund President Donald Trump’s agenda.  Medicaid became a target in the budget reconciliation process after Republicans asked the committee to find $880 billion in cumulative spending reductions through 2034. During the debate, Republicans and Democrats painted vastly differing pictures of the proposed changes to Medicaid and how they would impact beneficiaries. Republicans presented the reforms as a series of commonsense measures that would extend the viability of the $914 billion program, largely by ensuring that only people entitled to receive Medicaid benefits are enrolled in the program....