House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed as untrue Democratic claims that the “big, beautiful bill” narrowly passed by the chamber last week, containing much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, includes cuts to current Medicaid beneficiaries.
In an interview with NBC’s Kristin Welker, Johnson clarified what the president and Republicans have been saying for days – the “most vulnerable” Americans are not going to be “at risk.”
“Let’s move on to Medicaid. As you know, that’s a big part of the debate as well,” Welker began the segment, including a critical quote from the American Hospital Association, which claimed that “the sheer magnitude” of Medicaid reductions will negatively impact every recipient and especially rural hospitals.
“Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is calling this a hospital tax, Mr. Speaker. Does the House bill put hospitals and, frankly, the most vulnerable Americans at risk?” Welker asked as Johnson shook his head to debunk the AHA statement.
“No. You can underscore what I am about to tell you: there are no Medicaid cuts in the big, beautiful bill. We’re not cutting Medicaid,” Johnson stressed, while going on to say that the bill “strengthens” the benefit program by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse — something Democrats used to support, too, before Trump and Republicans took up the cause.
In addition, Johnson noted that the program was originally intended for young, pregnant women, disabled Americans, and the elderly, but that many “young men” who are able to work are currently receiving benefits as well.
“That drains resources from the people who need it most and what we are doing is an important and heroic thing to preserve the program so it doesn’t become insolvent,” he said, noting that the GOP bill will reimpose a work requirement for “able bodied” Americans similar to the one signed into law by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
The work requirement is only 20 hours per week.
“You’re telling me that you’re going to require the able-bodied, these young men, for example, OK, to only work or volunteer in their community for 20 hours a week. And that’s too cumbersome for them?” Johnson told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “I’m not buying it. The American people are not buying it.”
Johnson also dismissed the claim that the bill would harm rural hospitals, noting “there’s a lot of flexibility” built into the legislation.
The speaker also noted that there are an estimated 1.4 million illegal immigrants currently receiving Medicaid benefits. “They’re not entitled to that; this is for American citizens in those vulnerable populations,” he told Welker.
He also said that “4.8 million people will not lose their Medicaid unless they choose to do so.”
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Last week, Johnson warned that a handful of Senate Republicans may “tank” the “Big Beautiful Bill” by stripping out key measures that are fundamentally important to the president’s agenda.
During an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Johnson also warned that the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate may take out the measure in the House-passed bill that restricts activist judges from issuing nationwide injunctions on every single case.
Later in the interview, Johnson also addressed the false Democratic claims about cuts to Medicaid.
“We have not cut Medicaid, and we have not cut SNAP. What we’re doing is working on fraud, waste, and abuse,” Johnson said. “And everyone in Louisiana and around the country understands that that’s a responsibility of Congress.
“Just in — in Medicaid, for example, you’ve got 1.4 million illegal aliens receiving those benefits. That is not what Medicaid is intended for. It’s intended for vulnerable populations, for young, single, pregnant women and the elderly and the disabled and people who desperately need those resources. Right now, they’re being drained by fraud, waste, and abuse,” Johnson added.