On March 11, The White House released a statement quoting President Donald Trump four times as saying that Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security will not be cut by his administration.
At the same time as the denials of Trump’s intent to make cuts to those
programs, Trump repeated that his administration would aggressively seek
to eliminate “waste and fraud” from the programs and specifically
referenced undocumented immigrants benefitting
from the programs. The March 11 release identified “improper payments”
emanating from Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security over the last two
decades that may exceed $3 trillion.
But the U.S. House budget resolution that House Speaker Mike Johnson led
to passage by a razor-thin majority sets a framework for the House
Energy and Commerce Committee – which oversees Medicaid – to cut $880
billion from federal spending over the next decade.
The overall House budget requires $2 trillion in spending cuts over the
same period.
Speaker Johnson said to Democratic critics after the 217-215 House vote
that it represented a “starting point” for negotiations over the budget
that “said nothing specific about Medicaid.”
But the Louisiana Republican said later: “Medicaid is hugely problematic
because it has a lot of fraud, waste and abuse. Everybody knows that.
We all know it intuitively. No one in here would disagree. What we’re
talking about is rooting out the fraud, waste,
and abuse. It doesn’t matter what party you're in; you should be for
that because it saves your money, and it preserves the programs so that
it is available for the people who desperately need it.”
Mississippi is the state that receives the most federal assistance in
providing the Medicaid program. The federal medical assistance
percentage or FMAP in the state is 76.9 percent. FMAP is calculated by
evaluating the average per capita income for each state
relative to the national average. No state currently receives FMAP
lower than 50 percent or higher than Mississippi’s 76.9 percent.
A March 7 analysis in Newsweek quoted Columbia University Mailman School
of Public Heath scholar Michael Sparer as observing: “Unless individual
states made up for the lost federal funding, millions of Americans
would lose their insurance coverage. This impact
would be felt particularly strongly in states such as Mississippi and
Arkansas that can least afford to make up the difference.”
Across the country, Medicaid spending accounted for about 19 percent of
all hospital care spending in the U.S. in FY2023. In Mississippi. About
24 percent of the total state population is covered by Medicaid or the
Children's Health Insurance Program or CHIP,
bringing Mississippi’s Medicaid enrollee total to 642,716 in August
2024’s Mississippi Division of Medicaid’s last annual report.
Mississippi’s three Republican House members voted to adopt the House
budget resolution. Second District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the
Mississippi delegation’s lone Democrat, voted against it.
The Kaiser Family Foundation notes that in Mississippi, Medicaid covers
one in seven adults aged 19-64, one-in-two children, three-in-four
Nursing home residents, two-in seven Medicare beneficiaries, and
three-in-eight working age adults with disabilities.
KFF reports that 62 percent of Miss. adults on Medicaid are working,
and that 64 percent of Miss. Medicid recipients are people of color.
What would Medicaid cuts look like in Mississippi? Much of the political
rhetoric nationally has focused on the likely outcome of reduced
reimbursement rates, caps on per-enrollee funds states can draw down and
a program of block grants for health care that
is unlikely to meet the needs of the poorest people in the nation.
But whatever combination of Medicaid cuts are chosen, it will produce an
across-the-board disturbance in the delivery of public health care in
poor states with a low percentage of residents with private health
insurance. That will impact hospitals, clinics,
doctors and every link in the health care chain that is compensated
through the existing Medicaid program.
Ironically, some of the deepest health care impacts may be felt in
Mississippi, where Trump received some of his highest percentages of
ballot-box support.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
19 comments:
“ But whatever combination of Medicaid cuts are chosen, it will produce an across-the-board disturbance in the delivery of public health care in poor states with a low percentage of residents with private health insurance”
That’s an opinion, not a fact. Eliminating waste fraud and abuse does not have to impact benefits.
Insofar as there is fraud, waste and abuse of Medicaid in Mississippi, Sid Salter supports the continued funding of same.
Looks those who opposed the expansion of Medicaid have now been proven correct as it regards Federal funding.
President Trump can't cut Medicaid fast enough. Bunch of lazy, poor people sucking on the TIT. The big government TIT. Trump is the axe to the TIT of entitlement. Those poor babies need to get jobs. We Christians cannot stand by while the freeloaders keep taking advantage of America. Thank you President Trump. Make them cry. Make them feel pain. Make America Great Again!
For adults, get a friggin' job and pay for your medical care like the rest of us.
Matthew 25:40 : “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, In as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.”
President Trump is instilling the gift of grit, hard to work and responsibility to these Medicaid freeloaders. What a blessing to have a true servant of the Lord Almighty leading America. Those demoncrats can burn in hell..
Recently had a card scammed and of all things the loaded my $$ on to a health gift card. So yeah cut FRAUD. If they can steal; then they can get a JOB!
The problem is putting the cart before the horse. Find the fraud, charge the person committing fraud and try to recover the money lost or put their a** behind bars. Intuition is a poor choice when getting facts are possible and they are. Indeed, Mississippi is so small, you could just send all the people who get government contract money to knock on doors one day to get verification. We can even call it Patriotic Sunday Afternoon.
Why not just offer a $500 reward for proof of scamming since we have so many people with reliable intuition? You could easily prove it since you are so exceptional!
California has it going on!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/newsom-signs-bill-to-close-28-billion-medicaid-gap-after-expanding-coverage-to-illegal-immigrants/ar-AA1CXPAS
A fertile breeding ground for fraud amd theft of taxpayer money-
I support Medicaid to assist with health services for those that are in an uncontrollable state of poverty. There are truly legitimate needs for it and I have no problem with my tax dollars helping those people. For all of those hoebags out there spreading their legs and spitting out babies with no income from sperm-donors that don't stick around, absolutely not.
Trust but verify. The onus is on the receiver of the benefits to prove need.
California has it going on!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/newsom-signs-bill-to-close-28-billion-medicaid-gap-after-expanding-coverage-to-illegal-immigrants/ar-AA1CXPAS
April 16, 2025 at 10:34 AM
That's not all they got goin on! They have bounties for turning in your neighbor for cutting grass or any "Cash Tax Free Income" , Moonlighting for Cash, Illegal Firearms & the list goes on!
There was more fraud by Phil, Frave & Nancy New, than happen in Missippi by Medicad recipients in the last 10 years. Why isn’t Trump aggressively going after them?
All departments of the government, no exemptions. People working in these departments do not want to work. Some people going to these departments want to steal from it. It is so easy to steal and it has been going on so long people think they have the right to steal. Departments should be reduced to those who are able and willing to work. Much of the time that means not hiring buddies and families.
why is it so hard for some people to understand, that the more waste, fraud, and abuse you can cut out of a program or department, the more resources you have to provide to individuals that truly need them?
I'm ALL in for Trump, Musk & the Cuts..maybe some people aren't so Disabled after all & can seek Employment-
As everyone is finding out, the entire U.S. Government is a fraud - and should be completely dismantled - then, rebuilt based on factual need - not political grandstanding from someone just saying someone can "benefit" from tax payer funded nonsense.
7:12 PM said: “maybe some people aren't so Disabled after all & can seek Employment.”
Like a guy (as just a hypothetical of course) that receives money to get a certain surgery for an on the job injury - but instead of getting the surgery he blows the money on fun stuff - then years later he uses the injury that could have been fully recovered from had he gotten the surgery - to start not only drawing disability - but early social security?
A non-hypothetical question is: what solution(s) to the unsustainable deficits creating mountains of debt for our children and grandchildren - has Sid proposed?
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