By Torrence Banks, NOTUS
Louisiana has more residents on Medicaid than nearly any other state in the country. Its representatives in Congress, however, are split on partisan lines over just what the proposed changes to the program in Republicans’ sprawling domestic policy bill would mean for them.
Republicans across Congress have been divided on how to cut the health program for cost savings, or if they should touch it at all. Sen. Josh Hawley recently wrote an op-ed arguing members should not cut the program. Earlier this month, Rep. Brett Guthrie, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released proposed cuts that would result in 13.7 million people losing coverage, according to a letter from the Congressional Budget Office.
The current House reconciliation bill, which is still being negotiated among Republicans, calls for some $800 billion in Medicaid reductions over the next decade. And the effect of these reductions is expected to be profoundly felt in states like Louisiana. As of February, one-third of Louisiana’s residents were enrolled in Medicaid, according to data from the state’s Department of Health, the second-highest rate of any state.
“These cuts are not only draconian, they are death sentences for many people,” Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat who represents much of New Orleans, told NOTUS. Medicaid coverage in Louisiana, he said, “transcends through all of our congressional districts, from the speaker of the House to the majority leader to every single member. This notion that somehow these cuts are going to hurt African Americans or Democrats is a failed proposition. These cuts will hurt Americans, period.”
Rep. Cleo Fields, a Democrat who serves in the Louisiana delegation with Carter, acknowledged that he and Carter are “limited in terms of” what they can do, but added that he and Carter will push against the cuts.
“There are a lot of people, poor people, children, elderly people with disabilities, that will be affected, and it’s going to be a calamity,” Fields said. “And actually the state will not be able to take up that responsibility, because they just don’t have the dollars to do it.”
The White House has sent mixed messages on Medicaid. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that President Donald Trump would like to see work requirements added to the program. However, Trump seemed to contradict that message Tuesday, telling House Republicans at a meeting on the Hill not to “fuck around with Medicaid” and only root out “waste, fraud and abuse” in the program.
Louisiana Republicans seemed less concerned about the proposed cuts. Rep. Clay Higgins, who represents a district with one of the highest shares of Medicaid recipients out of Republican-held districts, told NOTUS that he disagrees with the idea that Republicans are looking to make cuts to the program.
“We’re stabilizing and saving a program by several categories of reform and improvement, and one of those categories is addressing, ‘Hey, what about these work-age, healthy young American men that are on Medicaid?’” Higgins said. “That’s not what that program was designed for. And that’s not an abuse that we should allow to continue.”
The full House could vote on the reconciliation bill as soon as Wednesday. But even if it passes the chamber, the policy specifics will be in flux once the bill reaches the Senate. Some Republican senators have been openly skeptical of their House colleagues’ proposals on Medicaid.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, told NOTUS that his delegation has not met to discuss Medicaid, however, members are following the issue closely.
“We don’t know what the changes to Medicaid are going to be yet,” Kennedy said when asked if he’s concerned about the proposed cuts.
Carter said that he hasn’t reached out recently to discuss Medicaid cuts with his Republican colleagues. However, he said, in past conversations they’ve not been “willing to address the reality out loud.”
“I think they are as concerned about this as we are,” Carter said about Republicans in his delegation. “They just aren’t empowered to say it. Listen, I have the utmost respect for my colleagues, and I don’t challenge their commitment to love of our country, our state. I do challenge their commitment to this president versus the people.”
—
Torrence Banks is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
