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Since President Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Democrats have opposed potential Medicaid cuts. Now that his “big and beautiful bill” has passed Congress, they’re making Medicaid the best talk ahead of the expected competitive midterm elections in 2026.
Meanwhile, Republicans are doubling Medicaid reforms included in Trump’s megaville.
“My policy is to do damn work if you’re a healthy worker,” Rep. NancyMace (Rs.C.) told Fox News Digital. “If you need government benefits, go to work and get a job.”
Megaville regulations require that competent childless adults between the ages of 18 and 64 work at least 80 hours a month to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Individuals can meet their requirements by participating in community services, going to schools, or taking part in work programs.
Republicans praise the “job requirements” of the big, beautiful bill for Medicaid: “We have to go back to work.”
D-La. Rep. Troy Carter and R-Ala. Senator Katie Britt spoke about the requirements for Medicaid work with Fox News Digital. (Nicolas Balasse – Fox News Digital)
Fox News Digital asked Capitol Hill lawmakers if taxpayers need to pay for Medicaid bills for healthy workers who are unemployed under the age of 65.
“Just below the line”: Medicaid reforms in “Big, Beautifulville” divide lawmakers with parties
Sen. Angus King, who is independent from Maine, said that labor requirements are already imposed in both Arkansas and Georgia, will cost taxpayers more money to manage their labor requirements.
“We’re talking about a very small population, and in the two cases they tried to do that, it ended up being one, disqualifying people who met all the requirements but gave up on paperwork. These are not people who are used to filling in a lot of paperwork each month.
The New England Journal of Medicine found that Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements from 2018 to 2019 “discovering no evidence of increased employment and significant losses in Medicaid coverage for low-income adults.”
Protesters seeking the preservation of Medicaid funds will be removed from the House of Commons Energy and Commercial Markup in Rayburnville on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Similarly, the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) reported that 80% of the $58 million spent in the first year of the route to Georgia coverage program was spent on administrative costs.
But R-Ala. Sen. Katie Britt, of the Republicans, stressed that “we hope these programs exist for those who need them.” She said Medicaid reforms are “about strengthening and preserving these programs at a rate they are growing.”
“These programs are intended to be safety nets, not hammocks where people stay, and the success of these programs should be measured by the number of people who we get off them,” Britt said.
R-La. Senator Bill Cassidy agreed, telling Fox News Digital, “What you don’t want is someone to depend on. I’m telling people. The safety net should bounce back on your feet.
The House Speaker will speak to the media on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC (Kevin Diet/Getty Images) after the House narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s agenda at the U.S. Capitol.
“We’re not saying, ‘Hey, we haven’t abandoned you.’ It’s okay, but you need to get a job.
But Democrats who spoke to Fox News Digital continued to oppose the work requirements contained in the “big and beautiful bill.”
“I think I’m the people [who] You can work, trust me, they will work rather than get the Pidling Dollars you get from Medicaid. It is a shame to suggest that a person will sit at home rather than work and get this small amount. All of this has just been fully expanded to fit a story that can be cut to people who deserve Medicaid,” says D-La. said Rep. Troy Carter.
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And D-Calif Rep. Lateefah Simon said, “We need to be able to have infrastructure to support the elderly and sick, widows and children in this country. This bill violates all these fundamental principles.”
Peter Pinedo of Fox News contributed to this report.
Deirdre Heavey is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
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