The House Republicans are engaged in a high-stakes tug of war over potential Medicaid program cuts, potentially forming the crux of the final federal budget agreement.
Wisconsin’s GOP Sen. Ron Johnson remains skeptical about meeting the early July deadline set by House leadership. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina, among others, stands firm on the reductions. The heart of this matter beats with a simple truth: the issue revolves around states that increased spending on the program under Obamacare’s provisions.
Harris, speaking from the House floor, paints a bleak picture. “If we shirk our responsibilities now, and allow millions more working capable adults to continue to freeload off Obamacare expansion, taxpayers will shoulder the weight of what will morph into a $1 trillion program.”
Harris believes that Obamacare’s impact on Medicaid is disastrous: “Obamacare significantly expanded Medicaid and is quickly draining the lifeblood of the program.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, despite opposition from some Congressional members, is still contemplating Medicaid cuts to roll back the program expansion under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as it’s popularly known.
Rep. Harris asserts that the majority of Americans would rally behind decluttering Medicaid roles to focus spending on those truly in need. “If 30-year-olds living in their parents’ house get more federal Medicaid benefits than pregnant single mothers, then it’s clear the system is utterly broken and in dire need of repair.”
Can we allow our budget, the backbone of our nation, to be held hostage by an inefficient system? More importantly, can we afford not to address it? As sure as the turning of the Earth, this is a topic that will continue to shape the American landscape.
