House Republicans are facing the difficult task of slashing $1.5 trillion — with hundreds of billions likely in Medicaid spending — to help offset the cost of President Trump's tax cuts. House leadership has denied that Medicaid will be gutted. But it's unclear how Republicans plan to reach the level of spending cuts laid out in the budget resolution that Congress adopted earlier this month without drastically trimming the program.
The $10 million that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration diverted to a state-created charity last year consisted of Medicaid dollars owed to state and federal taxpayers, contrary to what the governor and other officials have publicly asserted.
Trinity County's only hospital, which opened just 14 months ago, will close this week as Texas continues to struggle to keep their rural hospitals afloat. On April 18, the Mid Coast Medical Center announced it would be closing down its operations in Trinity on Friday, citing financial concerns. They gave just a week's notice to the local hospital board, which fought to keep the hospital operating since doors opened in February 2024. The closest hospitals to Trinity are about 30 miles away.
An attempt by Republican lawmakers to roll back the federal government's share of Medicaid expansion could result in tens of thousands of additional deaths. The analysis by the left-leaning Centers for American Progress found that about 34,200 more people would die annually if the federal government reduced its current 90% match for the expansion costs and states responded by dropping their Medicaid expansions.
A majority of the Supreme Court appeared inclined Monday to reject a conservative challenge to Obamacare, leaving in place the federal government's authority to require insurers to cover everything from depression screenings to HIV prevention drugs at no cost to patients. And, in an odd twist, it was the Trump administration defending the health law that the president has spent more than a decade excoriating.
Justices today heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of the federal task force that decides which preventive services should be covered. The Trump administration, defending the task force, argued that HHS has appropriate oversight over its members and recommendations. But lawyers for Christian-owned companies challenging the mandate argued that the task force is unconstitutionally imposing coverage requirements because its members aren't politically appointed.