House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, is joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for a press conference in Statuary Hall at the Capitol on Feb. 12. (AP/Rod Lamkey, Jr./File)
As it stands, states must contribute their own matching funds to qualify for federal Medicaid dollars, but Republicans are weighing whether to prevent states from taxing insurers and healthcare providers as a way to raise that cash, a Politico report said Wednesday. Doing so would leave states with a $612 billion hole in their budgets over the next 10 years, the report said.
GOP leaders argue that states are inflating Medicaid costs because they are kicking back the taxes to those sources through higher payment rates, the report added.
"States and providers scheme so that the provider gets an enormous flow of federal dollars with no state cost exposure," Brian Blase of the Paragon Health Institute think-tank told the outlet.
MEDICAID BECOMES FLASHPOINT IN HOUSE DEBATE OVER TRUMP BUDGET BILL
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, joined at center-left by Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the House minority whip, rallies Democrats against the Republican budget plan on the House steps at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 25. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
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"States can use various sources to finance the non-federal share and would look to other sources if Congress limited their ability to use provider taxes," it also said. "This means that some states would have to consider increasing other forms of taxes, including income and sales tax, levied on all state residents."
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rep-jeffries-warns-americans-devastated-after-house-republicans-advance-largest-medicaid-cut