House GOP Reelects Johnson as Speaker, Urges No Changes to Medicaid

On Friday, Representative Mike Johnson secured another term as House Speaker, during which over 300 advocacy groups cautioned the newly Republican-led Congress to avoid making cuts to Medicaid. These warnings come amidst discussions within the GOP about implementing work requirements and other potential restrictive modifications to the program, which currently aids approximately 80 million people in the U.S.

In a missive addressed to leaders of both parties in Congress, organizations including Families USA, the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, Doctors for America, and the NAACP, among other national and state groups, expressed that “slashing Medicaid funding was not endorsed by American families during the 2024 election cycle.”

They argued, “Implementing cuts at this juncture would be a betrayal of constituents across all political spectrums who are in pursuit of greater, not lesser, economic stability.” They warned that reducing Medicaid would transfer financial and administrative burdens onto working-class households, state governments, and healthcare systems. They detailed harmful proposals such as capping funding, diminishing the federal contribution to Medicaid, setting up block grants, and imposing work and community participation prerequisites, all of which would dismantle the program’s core structure.

The groups further cautioned, “Such measures would strip Americans of access to essential lifesaving services, create significant financial shortfalls in state budgets, and cause healthcare facilities to lose income, forcing them to reduce staff and curtail services. This would make healthcare unaffordable for many American families and workers, leading to increased illness, decreased productivity, and an overall negative impact on the economy.”

“The American people are watching… and we urge you to choose an alternative route—one that ensures the health and economic prosperity of our nation.”

The communication was sent as House members convened to affirm Johnson (R-La.) as Speaker for the new session.

Following their inauguration, the Republicans are anticipated to push for a substantial tax reduction strategy, intended to be financed by cuts to vital social services, including Medicaid.

GOP representatives have proposed enforcing work mandates on Medicaid beneficiaries as part of a wider strategy to balance the hefty expenses from another series of tax cuts that would mainly benefit the affluent and large businesses.

The Congressional Budget Office has projected that such work requirements, which often involve complex bureaucratic processes, would lead about 600,000 individuals to lose their insurance coverage.

After the November elections, The New York Times reported that “certain Republican lawmakers are contemplating even more drastic changes, such as transforming Medicaid into a block grant program, which would cap federal expenditures regardless of increasing enrollee numbers.”

Edwin Park, a research professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, cautioned in a November blog post that converting Medicaid to a block grant system would have “severe negative consequences.” He explained that to offset drastic federal budget reductions from block grants, states would have to significantly increase taxes or cut other budget areas like education—or more likely, implement sweeping reductions to Medicaid eligibility, benefits, and payments to providers.

“That includes potential elimination of the Medicaid expansion, which currently covers nearly 20 million newly eligible adults and others, as well as severe cuts to other state Medicaid services that assist millions of low-income children, parents, disabled individuals, and elderly,” he added.

In their Friday letter, the coalition of advocacy groups reminded Congress of the “millions upon millions of Americans who stood up against” the GOP’s unsuccessful Medicaid cuts in 2017.

“The American people are watching once more,” they reiterated, “and we implore you to opt for a path that safeguards our nation’s health and economic future.”