Dems propose rolling back health cuts on Medicaid anniversary

Modern Healthcare – Wednesday, July 30,2025
By Michael McAuliff

Democrats are ramping up efforts against the $1.1 trillion in healthcare cuts President Donald Trump enacted this month.

On Wednesday, the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, Senate Democrats staged a pair of news conferences to highlight the impacts of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and to unveil legislation that would repeal its $964 billion in Medicaid cuts over 10 years and the $$124 billion it slashed from the health insurance exchanges.

The Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act of 2025 also would make permanent the enhanced exchange subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year.

“Democrats are here today with a simple message: Let’s scrap Trumpcare,” Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said during a news conference.

The tax-and-spending-cuts law was unpopular before it passed the majority Republican Congress with no Democratic support.

That has Democrats eager to campaign on its consequences, and on the effects of letting the larger insurance subsidies lapse, during the midterm congressional elections next year.

Democrats predicted Republicans will pay a price for backing a law that is projected to make 10 million people uninsured, and for not renewing the exchange subsidies, which is expected to cause another 5.1 million to lose coverage when combined with a recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulation curbing exchange enrollment.

“I want to sound the alarm for Republicans,” Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray (Wash.) said. “If you don’t come to the table ASAP to fix this, you are not going to be able to spin your way out of this reality when over 15 million people lose their healthcare due to Republican healthcare cuts and sabotage. You are not going to convince them everything is A-OK.”

Murray’s comments echoed a call Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) made on Tuesday for Republicans to work with Democrats to, at a minimum, address the expiring tax credits.

A handful of Republicans have suggested a willingness to look at extending the subsidies, such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.), the latter of whom voted against Trump’s bill in part because of the Medicaid cuts. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill to repeal the part of the tax law — which he supported — that limits the provider taxes states levy to help finance their Medicaid expenses.

The GOP has a 53-47 edge over Democrats and allied independents in the Senate. Republicans have a 219-212 majority in the House.

Wyden emphasized a frequent talking point Democrats and healthcare interests used during the tax bill debate: Cutting spending on Medicaid and the exchanges will have downstream effects on entire communities that won’t be limited to the people who lose coverage. That includes outcomes such as hospital closures and premium increases, he said.

“This is not going to be just Medicaid, folks,” Wyden said. “People across this country of all ages are going to feel like they’ve been hit by a healthcare wrecking ball, so we want to get results.”

But none of the high-ranking Democrats who spoke this week gave any indication that GOP senators are eager to revisit the healthcare portions of Trump’s tax law or the exchange subsidies.

“There has been no evidence to date as of right now that Senate Republican leadership is interested in a serious bipartisan healthcare discussion,” Wyden said. “I have not heard from any of the senior Republican leadership.”

An opportunity to make a deal with the GOP majority may yet arrive, however. Congress faces a tight deadline to keep the federal government in operation and to extend popular programs by Sept. 30, when fiscal 2025 ends. Lawmakers are on recess and will not return to Washington until early September.

For that gambit to work, Democrats would have to be willing to risk a shutdown to win concessions. In the meantime, Schumer called on advocates to pressure the GOP during the recess.

“We need you, all of August, to pound away at this issue and let people know how bad it is,” Schumer said. “The more people know about it, the more they hate the big, ugly betrayal.”

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