States May Have to Adjust to Medicaid Reforms, Speaker Johnson Says

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Tuesday that states will have to figure out on their own how to adjust to proposed reforms to food stamps and health care programs in the congressional Republicans’ “big, beautiful” budget bill.

“We’re going to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ resources. The states will adjust to all of these things,” Johnson, R-La., said in response to a question from The Daily Signal at a Capitol Hill press conference.

The trickiest pieces of the House of Representatives’ budget plan is a proposed $880 billion cut over 10 years to the Energy and Commerce Committee, which handles Medicare and Medicaid. 

Republican House leadership has argued that much of those cuts can be found in eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, but others have acknowledged the need to restructure programs and shift some responsibilities to the states.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., for example, is currently trying to figure out how to deal with states that have expanded Medicaid access to more people under the Affordable Care Act.

Asked Monday about the possibility of “capping or reducing federal Medicaid payments to those states,” Guthrie replied, “That is an issue we have to negotiate through.”

When it comes to food stamps, it’s possible states will also have to alter their responsibilities. Politico reported Tuesday that Ways and Means Committee Republicans would meet Tuesday to discuss pushing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program “benefit costs onto states for the first time.” 

The potential for a radical restructuring of the funding for these programs will likely complicate the job of governors in formulating their states’ budget plans, as they can no longer take the old status quo for granted.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, for instance, is proposing a massive $254 billion state budget that would increase Medicaid spending. 

Hochul has accused congressional Republicans of attacking the program, but she has not accounted for what the final federal budget might look like.

Top New York Democrats have acknowledged they might have to readjust their budget in a special session when more information comes out.

When The Daily Signal asked Johnson on Tuesday if he would advise governors such as Hochul on how to prepare for the federal budget’s changes, he jokingly replied, “Yeah, I’m not sure Kathy Hochul and I are going to sit down and talk about New York’s budget.”

Johnson criticized Democrats’ assertions that Republicans would cut Medicaid as lies and suggested that states would be able to adjust.

“We’re going to preserve the program, not cut it,” he said. “It’s exactly the opposite of what the Democrats are saying. So, the states will adjust to all of these things, and we will make sure that the people who need these benefits and rely upon them are protected.”

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