The main components of the draft law are looking to finance President Donald Trump’s agenda to provide major tax exemptions by reducing spending elsewhere, including huge discounts in Medicid.
Medicaid is the joint Federal and State Health Insurance program for low -income Americans. Medical care centers Medicaid Services (CMS) works with state programs to manage Medicaid, under which more than 71.2 million people Registered.
Medicaid provides advantages including homework for nursing, personal care and assistance services that pay for installments and other costs, according to CMS.
and analysis From the Congress Budget Office, cuts to Medicaid can increase the number of people who do not have health insurance by at least 8.6 million by 2034.
“Medicaid is an important safety network for many Americans,” Jennifer Minsic Kennedy, President of the American Nurses Association, told ABC News. “When we look at the most vulnerable and the most services, it will affect these groups inappropriately.”
Many Republicans insisted that the discounts in Medicaid are only to get rid of fraud, waste, abuse of use and will not lead to losing coverage of those who need them, which were repeated during this week’s testimony by the Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services Robert F. Kennedy Junior.
But some Americans who rely on medicaid for their own coverage, or cover their families, told ABC News that they are concerned that the cuts can reduce their ability to obtain health care, or to force them to choose between payment for coverage or payment for necessities.
Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the correspondents leaving the home room in the American Capitol, May 15, 2025 in Washington.
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“I feel very fearful”
Rosa Andreen, from Southgate, California, was the patronage of her 27 -year -old daughter for 13 years.
Her daughter, Amanda, handicapped and she has conditions, including cerebral palsy and Nubian disorder. More than a decade ago, Andresen has left her job in the data recovery company to take full -time her daughter.
Andreen, 54, said that Amanda is covered with Medicare and Medicaid, which helped pay the price of diapers, seized medicines and mobility tools such as a shower and slope to help and stairs.
It is not clear whether Amanda will lose Medicaid coverage under the new proposal, but if you do so, it will be a huge blow to its care.
“It is very devastating,” Andrienon told ABC News. “I am very sad, and I feel very afraid of the welfare of my daughter. It can greatly affect her health and life, and the quality of life she has.”
Andrienon said that she is afraid that she would receive a letter in the mail telling her that her daughter is no longer eligible to get Medicaid or will take Amanda to the doctor’s date and discover that her daughter cannot get care there or is no longer able to prescribe a specific drug.
She said that she tried to find out if she could get a special insurance for her daughter, such as through her husband’s job, but insurance companies told her that she did not cover people with chronic diseases.
According to HHS“Health insurance companies can no longer charge more or refuse to cover you or your child due to a pre -existing health condition such as asthma, diabetes, or cancer, as well as pregnancy.”
While California has Medi-Cal, which is the implementation of the state for the Medicaid Federal program, Andresen said it does not know what the program will cover and what he will have to pay from his pocket.
“I use government help to buy food, such as [electronic benefit transfer]To put food on my table, and if I also have to use money from my pocket, I do not know if I will be able to do this if you are [have to] He decided to buy my daughter’s medications or put food on the table. “
It can endanger work requirements
Four years ago, Judy Monteliser, a mother of North Hampton, Massachusetts, was struggling with the disorder of the use of opioids. She was not sympathetic and unemployed from her children.
Montelsier said she realized that she had hit a low point and needed help. I entered the OTP, paid for Medicaid.
“I was really like,” I need to fix my life, “and I did,” by Monttelser, 38, for ABC News. “I really hung with the clinic and do all meetings, all groups, and all my treatment, only using the clinic … and really help me.”
Montplaisir is now three years after her recovery, where she currently lives in an apartment, has not included her with her children and has a job working with unlucky people.
Medicaid currently covers her treatment with the help of medications, and she is preparing Clinic Weekly to stay responsible. However, it is afraid of any interruption, such as the red tape or new requirements, can put its progress.
“If I don’t have a mandate, I will not be able to do the clinic,” she said. “There is no possible way at all. If you don’t have Medicaid and help the system, I will not be able to do this on my own.”
Republicans The proposed bill It would impose the requirements for working on the capable Medicaid recipients at least-at least a month-or require registration in an educational program for at least 80 hours or a monthly mix.
Mary Beth Cocran, activist, speaks against the decision of the Republican budget in the House of Representatives in front of the American Capitol building in Washington, February 25, 2025.
Nathan Bosner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Not all Republicans support the bill in its current form. An increasing number of members of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives cross, some of them because they do not believe that the draft law does enough to protect the weak Americans and others because it does not include some of the most discounts in which Republicans were strict.
Monteliser said if the requirements of work are in place when she was in OTP, it is impossible for her to focus on her recovery, and it will make it difficult for the unique people you are now working with.
While the language project has exemptions for some adults, including those who suffer from drug use disorder, Montoplaser worries that the exemption may be complicated and may lead to lost coverage in any case.
In addition, trying to prove work requirements instead of focusing on recovery may hinder people’s progress.
“Medicaid is there to help us … How can we work if we were trying to be sober?” Montellaser said. “If I have to pay money while trying to get sober or having to work while trying to get sober, this will not work.”
John Parkinson and Lauren Piller in ABC News contributed to this report.
