Congress

CBO Says GOP Health Care Bill Cuts Medicaid 35 Percent By 2036

Democrats requested an additional analysis of the GOP health care bill's long-term effects on Medicaid.

CBO Says GOP Health Care Bill Cuts Medicaid 35 Percent By 2036
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Senate Republicans are still making tweaks to their health care bill, but the Congressional Budget Office has put the current version back under the microscope.

The CBO looked at the health care bill's long-term effects on Medicaid. It found federal spending on the program would be 26 percent lower by 2026 than it would be without the bill and 35 percent lower by 2036.

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Medicaid spending would still go up, but funding caps would constrain the program's growth rate. Earlier CBO estimates said the bill would trim $772 billion off Medicaid spending over the next 10 years.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden was one of the senators who asked for the CBO analysis. He said the findings show that the GOP bill is "a heartless scheme that no elected representative of the people should support."

The GOP probably won't be able to release a revised draft of its bill until after the July 4 recess. That bill still needs to pass the Senate and be reconciled with the House version of the bill by the end of September.