Healthcare sector slams GOP Medicaid, Medicare cuts

Modern Healthcare – Thursday, May 22, 2025
By Modern Healthcare staff

Organizations representing a wide swath of the healthcare system spoke out in opposition to hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare cuts the House approved Thursday.

The GOP-led House narrowly approved legislation that would significantly shrink federal healthcare spending, predominantly in Medicaid but also in Medicare, the health insurance exchanges and other programs. Healthcare industry groups warned that providers, patients and states would suffer if these cuts became law.

Hospitals

American Hospital Association

“Our hospitals and health systems have significant concerns regarding the harmful Medicaid and health insurance marketplace provisions currently included in the bill. The sheer magnitude of the level of reductions to the Medicaid program alone will impact all patients, not just Medicaid beneficiaries, in every community across the nation. Hospitals — especially in rural and underserved areas — will be forced to make difficult decisions about whether they will have to reduce services, reduce staff and potentially consider closing their doors. Other impacts could include longer waiting times to receive care, more crowded emergency departments, and hospitals not being able to invest in technology and innovations for clinical care.”

– Rick Pollack, president and CEO

Federation of American Hospitals

“For months, Americans and the local hospitals who serve them have sent a clear warning to House leadership: Don’t slash Medicaid and threaten healthcare access for communities across the country — in other words, ‘do no harm.’ The House budget reconciliation bill fails this test with devastating Medicaid cuts — including caps on provider taxes and state-directed payments — that will hand tie states’ abilities to fund their Medicaid programs, cause millions of Americans to lose coverage and be a death knell to critical hospital services and entire communities’ access to care.”

– Chip Kahn, president and CEO

America’s Essential Hospitals

“The cuts would threaten the health and well-being of millions of Americans and harm the essential hospitals that serve as community lifelines.”

– Dr. Bruce Siegel, president and CEO

Catholic Health Association of the United States

“H.R. 1 would harm critical health and social safety-net programs that millions of Americans rely on to live with health, dignity and security. The Catholic Health Association strongly opposes provisions like mandatory Medicaid work reporting requirements, restrictions on state tax authority and changes to state-directed payment policies — all of which would lead to coverage losses for more than 10 million people who depend on Medicaid for essential care. These harmful proposals threaten the health and stability of the very communities we are called to serve.”

– Sister Mary Haddad, CEO

Children’s Hospital Association

“We remain concerned about the impact the Medicaid cuts in this bill will have on children and children’s hospitals. For reference, nearly half of American children rely on Medicaid and [the Children’s Health Insurance Program], and this bill will significantly reduce Medicaid support and negatively impact healthcare access for millions of children, regardless of whether they’re covered by Medicaid programs or private insurance.”

– Matthew Cook, president and CEO

Association of American Medical Colleges

“The AAMC remains deeply concerned by the many harmful policies currently being considered by the House of Representatives as part of their budget reconciliation bill. … We encourage the Senate to ensure that any budget reconciliation bill does not damage the nation’s healthcare infrastructure at the detriment of the health of patients, families and communities nationwide.”

– Dr. David Skorton, president and CEO, and Danielle Turnipseed, chief public policy officer

Physicians

American Medical Association

“The AMA appreciates that the bill adopted today addresses the problem of decreasing Medicare payment for physician services. …

“While we are also pleased that the bill did not include more severe Medicaid provisions such as direct [federal medical assistance percentage] cuts or per capita caps, we remain concerned that many of the Medicaid and [Affordable Care Act of 2010] savings provisions will have a significant and negative impact on the ability of eligible individuals to access and maintain coverage. Federal programs should seek to facilitate and maintain enrollment of eligible individuals, not erect bureaucratic barriers to care. As the bill moves forward, we urge the Senate to take the necessary steps to ensure that efforts to address waste, fraud and abuse do not result in millions of patients losing access to coverage. Rural and underserved communities will be most affected by these changes.”

– Dr. Bruce Scott, president

American Academy of Family Physicians

“Actions taken by the House will result, according to the Congressional Budget Office, in 13 million people losing their healthcare coverage. Medicaid work reporting requirements, increased eligibility checks and additional financial barriers will make it harder for individuals to maintain coverage and access the care they need. These changes — in combination with the looming expiration of Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits — will lead to widespread disenrollment and dangerous disruptions in care for millions.”

American College of Emergency Physicians

“Emergency departments are one of the few settings where patients are treated 24/7/365, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. The impact of policies that will leave millions of people without any health coverage falls squarely onto emergency physicians and patients. Patients with unmet healthcare needs will delay treatment and their conditions will worsen, leaving them with no other option than the emergency department. This creates avoidable health risks and threatens the viability of an already strained healthcare safety net.”

– Dr. Alison Haddock, president

America’s Physician Groups

“The Medicaid cuts are falsely premised on cutting waste, fraud, and abuse from the program, but they will mainly cause disenrollment and loss of coverage for millions of people, with serious negative consequences for them as well as for physician groups, hospitals and the entire stressed U.S. healthcare system. … The fact that all these cuts in healthcare and social programs are being used to finance tax cuts that will primarily benefit the highest income taxpayers is inexcusable. And the additional fact that the entire package will drive up federal budget deficits and debt may not only necessitate cuts in Medicare due to sequestration but will also impair the nation’s ability to meet its other obligations to its people.”

– Susan Dentzer, president and CEO

Federally qualified health centers

National Association of Community Health Centers

“NACHC is deeply concerned about the immediate impact of this legislation and urges the Senate to take into consideration the important role health centers play in serving their patients. … CHCs already face significant financial challenges and cannot absorb further reductions in Medicaid funding. These proposals come at a time of intense financial pressure that is already straining CHCs. The average financial margin for CHCs approaches a negative 2.2% while 42% of CHCs report having 90 days or less cash on hand.”

Health insurance

AHIP

“It is so concerning that preliminary [Congressional Budget Office] estimates show that the current version of budget legislation passed by the U.S. House would result in loss of coverage for at least 10.7 million people who are enrolled in Medicaid and the individual market. …

“Loss of coverage will also meaningfully set back the nascent and long-overdue efforts to fundamentally address chronic illness in the U.S. because stable coverage is essential to accessing preventive care and for managing chronic illness. If millions lose their health insurance, emerging conditions that could have been contained will progress and be diagnosed later, treated later and at much higher costs. We all want a healthier America. Deep reductions in healthcare coverage would be a big step in the wrong direction away from that goal.”

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

“For the millions of Americans who depend on the marketplace and Medicaid for their health insurance, they will find it much harder to enroll, maintain and afford their coverage. There are better ways to deliver savings for hardworking taxpayers, like reining in out-of-control prescription drug prices and ending hospital mark-ups that drive up premiums.”

– David Merritt, senior vice president of external affairs

Alliance of Community Health Plans

“The bill creates unnecessary red tape for beneficiaries and takes away coverage from patients afflicted with chronic disease. Burdensome new eligibility requirements and restrictions on states’ flexibility will push eligible people off coverage and harm those with unstable incomes, threatening market stability and raising premiums. Rather than making America healthy again, the House legislation makes Americans uninsured again. We know from experience, losing coverage means a sicker population, driven to the emergency department for late care that costs more. The House bill forces states to cut coverage and access to care, prioritizing short-term savings over long-term health.”

Association for Community Affiliated Plans

“The budget package passed here is cause for significant concern. It dresses up the most significant cut to Medicaid funding in U.S. history as an effort to fight fraud and waste. In practice, it generates most of its savings by setting up a series of bureaucratic traps that people who are rightly eligible for the program must navigate in order to keep their coverage and by shifting billions in costs to states. The moratorium on provider taxes — a mechanism used by every state in the union save one — ties states’ hands should they need to respond to rising Medicaid costs. And the imposition of copayments on Medicaid expansion enrollees will discourage access to needed healthcare services.”

– Margaret Murray, CEO

Medicaid Health Plans of America

“While we are disappointed that the House passed a reconciliation package containing significant cuts to the Medicaid program which will certainly result in millions losing coverage, we are eager to work with the Senate to ensure any final reconciliation bill preserves health coverage while also affording states flexibility to administer benefits in ways that effectively and efficiently address the unique and diverse healthcare needs of Medicaid beneficiaries.”

– Craig Kennedy, president and CEO

Long-term care

American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living

“While we appreciate that the House of Representatives has sought to preserve the core functions of Medicaid, its decision to freeze provider taxes will still cause issues for seniors and individuals with disabilities in nursing homes. Medicaid already underfunds long-term care, and states rely on provider taxes to help bridge the gap and protect access to care. With nearly two out of every three nursing home residents relying on Medicaid for their daily care, nothing could be more sacred than preserving this funding.”

– Clif Porter, president and CEO

LeadingAge

“If enacted, the policies in the House-passed bill will have a devastating impact on millions of older adults and their families who rely on Medicaid and Medicare for healthcare and long-term care and services, and on our nonprofit provider members who serve them. … Recognize this for what it is: cold-hearted legislation that will have ugly consequences, essentially eliminating for vulnerable people the support they rely on, leaving them with few options. The Medicaid and Medicare programs, and the aging services infrastructure they support, help older Americans age with dignity, not desperation. They must be protected. We urge the Senate: Do not follow in the House’s footsteps.”

– Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO

National Alliance for Care at Home

“The budget reconciliation legislation, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last night [sic] is gravely concerning for the Alliance and our provider members who deliver home and community-based services, home health, hospice and palliative care to children with serious health conditions, older adults and people with disabilities. The severe reduction in federal Medicaid spending, estimated to be more than $700 billion over the next decade, will have a sharply negative impact on eligibility and access to care.”

Pharmacy

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association

“The House reconciliation package misses the opportunity to lower prescription drug costs and instead includes misguided policies that undermine pay-for-performance incentives in Medicare and eliminates options for Medicaid plans to design pharmacy benefits that meet the needs of their enrollees. Specifically, the legislation would increase Medicare Part D premiums for seniors and increase costs for taxpayers, while handing big drug companies a massive profit windfall.”

– Greg Lopes, vice president of public affairs

National Community Pharmacists Association

“While doing nothing to reduce the cost of drugs for Medicaid beneficiaries, spread pricing has been costing federal and state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Through low and underwater reimbursements, [pharmacy benefit managers] have been systematically squeezing local pharmacies and helping drive them out of business. It’s egregious. Moving to a fairer pharmacy reimbursement system that ends spread pricing and requires transparent, predictable reimbursements to pharmacies is a step in the right direction. We urge the Senate to swiftly pass these provisions and President Trump to sign them into law.”

– Douglas Hoey, CEO

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

“We’re encouraged to see several important proposals make it into the reconciliation package headed to the Senate, including PBM reforms and a fix to the orphan drug exclusion in the [Inflation Reduction Act of 2022]. These long-overdue PBM reforms are a step in the right direction toward providing greater transparency and accountability on how middlemen have profited off the system at the expense of patients. The fix for orphan drugs in the IRA will incentivize more R&D for those with rare diseases waiting for more treatments and cures. We hope these important provisions make it over the finish line.”

Labor

Service Employees International Union

”Republicans in Congress just passed legislation that will rip healthcare from our families to line the pockets of the mega-rich. All those who voted for this bill will be held accountable. We should make healthcare better for everyone, not take it away. We should make costs go down for families, not set them up for skyrocketing bills. We should raise wages and make life more secure for working families, not pull the rug out from under them.”

– April Verrett, president

National Nurses United

“All people in the United States automatically deserve healthcare simply because you exist, period. … “As nurses, we know that health is not just individually determined, but socially determined. Nurses believe in a society where we take care of one another, not abandon people who are born or become disabled, or happen to work a job that is not financially valued. So we reject these cuts to Medicaid and other social support programs and will continue to fight for our patients and for public health.”

– Nancy Hagans, president

AFL-CIO

“Every single member of Congress who voted for this bill chose to write the richest 10% a fat check on the backs of working-class families already struggling to pay their bills. They voted to throw millions off their healthcare. …

“Cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs … would strip healthcare away from 13.7 million workers and slash nearly 500,000 care jobs in 2026 alone, forcing hospitals, clinics and nursing homes — especially in rural and lower-income communities — to close. Such a massive loss of coverage will ultimately force healthcare costs to rise for everyone.”

– Liz Shuler, president

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