Key Point: “Under President Joe Biden, enrollment in Medicaid hit a record high and the uninsured rate reached a record low. Donald Trump’s return to the White House — along with a GOP-controlled Senate and House of Representatives — is expected to change that. Republicans in Washington say they plan to use funding cuts and regulatory changes to dramatically shrink Medicaid, the nearly $900-billion-a-year government health insurance program that, along with the related Children’s Health Insurance Program, serves about 79 million mostly low-income or disabled Americans.”

KFF Health News: Trump’s Return Puts Medicaid on the Chopping Block

By Phil Galewitz

• Under President Joe Biden, enrollment in Medicaid hit a record high and the uninsured rate reached a record low.
• Donald Trump’s return to the White House — along with a GOP-controlled Senate and House of Representatives — is expected to change that.
• Republicans in Washington say they plan to use funding cuts and regulatory changes to dramatically shrink Medicaid, the nearly $900-billion-a-year government health insurance program that, along with the related Children’s Health Insurance Program, serves about 79 million mostly low-income or disabled Americans.
• The proposals include rolling back the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid, which over the last 11 years added about 20 million low-income adults to its rolls. Trump has said he wants to drastically cut government spending, which may be necessary for Republicans to extend 2017 tax cuts that expire at the end of this year.
• Advocates for poor people fear GOP funding cuts will leave more Americans without insurance, making it harder for them to get care.
• The GOP is looking at several tactics to reduce the size of Medicaid: Shifting to block grants … Cutting ACA Medicaid funding … Lowering federal matching funds … Adding work requirements … Placing enrollment hurdles. 
• If the GOP’s plans to shrink Medicaid are realized, Democrats and health experts say, low-income people forced to buy private insurance would face challenges paying monthly premiums and the large copayments and deductibles common to commercial plans that typically don’t exist in Medicaid.