GOP moderates concerned about Medicaid cuts will meet with House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) this week as the panel struggles to come up with potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the popular program.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told us this will be his fourth conversation with Guthrie, who has been talking to concerned members individually for weeks. Van Drew was among a dozen Republicans who warned House GOP leaders that they wouldn’t vote for a final reconciliation package with deep Medicaid cuts.
“We’re going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure there isn’t a lasting change,” Van Drew told us. “Attitude is what matters most here. We’re not just going to roll.”
Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) also plan to meet with Guthrie.
The increased pressure from moderates comes as Energy and Commerce inches closer to its May 7 markup. Committee Republicans met Monday to discuss what policies to include. Members made progress on narrowing down options, but their biggest challenge is winning over both moderates and hardliners.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) now says he’ll only support up to $500 billion in Medicaid cuts, as Politico reported. Other centrists have hinted about their own red lines. Energy and Commerce must find $880 billion in spending cuts, most of which will likely have to come from Medicaid.
Guthrie said the panel is still considering whether to lower the federal match rate or implement per capita caps for the Medicaid expansion population.
GOP moderates are more supportive of changes to the expansion population, with Bacon, Van Drew and Malliotakis saying they would consider those proposals. However, this may cause issues in the Senate.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), for example, laid out a much narrower picture of what she would support.
“The one thing that I would support are carefully crafted work requirements for able-bodied adults without pre-school children,” Collins said. “But I want to make sure we’re not depriving seniors, children, low-income families, people with disabilities and our rural hospitals.”
