Medicaid in the Crosshairs — What Comes Next?

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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, accompanied U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, holds up their budget resolution bill as he speaks during a news conference following a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on February 25, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Republicans in Congress are in search of $880 billion in spending cuts and Medicaid is in the crosshairs. Such cuts could have dire consequences for the health of more than 79 million Americans who rely on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance program for everything from life-saving care to otherwise unaffordable prescription drugs and nursing home stays. People with disabilities depend on Medicaid for the in-home care essential for independent living. Medicaid payments also can be a lifeline for struggling rural hospitals. As Republicans debate what form the cuts will take, experts anticipate that options under consideration could devastate state budgets, bump millions off the rolls, and slash core benefits for the widely popular program. And states such as California, where undocumented immigrants are now eligible for coverage, could end up jettisoning such expansions. In this webinar, we will take a close look at the latest GOP plans to slash Medicaid, explore what those cuts mean for the health of Americans who rely on the safety net, and highlight the wealth of story angles reporters can pursue to inform their communities as policies inch closer to reality. 

This webinar is free and made possible by the generous support of The California Endowment.

Panelists

Alice Miranda Ollstein

Alice Miranda Ollstein is senior health care reporter for POLITICO Pro, covering the Capitol Hill beat. Prior to joining POLITICO, she covered federal policy and politics for Talking Points Memo. Ollstein graduated from Oberlin College in 2010 and has been reporting in D.C. ever since, covering the Supreme Court, Congress and national elections for TV, radio, print, and online outlets. Her work has aired on Free Speech Radio News, All Things Considered, Channel News Asia, and Telesur, and her writing has been published by The Atlantic, La Opinión, and The Hill Rag. She was elected in 2016 as an at-large board member of the DC Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2017, she was named one of the New Media Alliance's “Rising Stars” under 30. She grew up in Santa Monica, California and began freelancing for local newspapers in her early teens. 

Edwin Park
Edwin Park is a research professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. His work at the McCourt School's Center for Children and Families primarily focuses on Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Affordable Care Act and he is considered one of the nation’s leading health policy experts on issues related to Medicaid and CHIP financing and the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions, among others. Previously, he worked for 17 years at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, most recently as vice president for health policy, co-directing the Center’s 15-person health policy team. He also served as the health policy advisor for the National Economic Council at the White House during the Clinton Administration and as a Medicaid professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. He also served on the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Agency Review Team for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.  
 
Celia Valdez headshot.

Celia Valdez has been working in health outreach for over 28 years as the health outreach and navigation director with Maternal and Child Health Access, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit. She has worked with local and state government groups, ranging from community-based organizations to government agencies, to improve access to free and low-cost health insurance programs. Valdez has advocated on behalf of hundreds of clients, provided testimony on their behalf before government boards, and made numerous health policy recommendations at state and local levels. 

 

Suggested reading

Congressional District Interactive Map: Medicaid Enrollment by Eligibility Group, via KFF

KFF Health Tracking Poll February 2025: The Public’s Views on Potential Changes to Medicaid, via KFF

Cutting Medicaid? How Republicans could change the program. By Margot Sanger-Katz, The New York Times

Medicaid Advocates Say Critics Use Loaded Terms To Gain Edge in Congressional Debate, by Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News

Republican proposals to cut Medicaid could be politically fraught, by Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News

How 7 states could thwart GOP plans to overhaul Medicaid, by Alice Miranda Ollstein, Politico

California has a lot to lose if Trump slashes Medicaid. Seniors, kids and more could face coverage cuts, by Ana B. Ibarra, CalMatters

Republicans May Find It Harder to Cut Medicaid Than They Think, by Joanne Kenen, Politico

If Trump cuts Medicaid, this California Republican’s House seat would be imperiled, by Melissa Gomez and Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times

How Many Expansion Adults Could Lose Medicaid Under Federal Work Requirements? Via Urban Institute/RWJF

Trump county residents worry Medicaid cuts could throw them back into opioid spiral, by Cleve R. Wootson Jr., The Washington Post

Medicaid Insures Millions of Americans. How the Health Program Works, in Charts. By Anna Wilde Mathews and Paul Overberg, The Wall Street Journal

The Big Secret About Medicaid: It’s a Middle-Class Benefit, by Ron Lieber, The New York Times

How Potential Federal Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP Could Trigger the Loss of a Million-Plus Jobs, Reduced Economic Activity, and Less State Revenue, via the Commonwealth Fund and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health