In their quest to pay for President Donald Trump’s policy priorities, Republicans are eyeing Medicaid, the largest health insurance program for more than 70 million low-income Americans, as a program ripe for cuts. But they face obstacles that could block any sort of overhaul to the nearly 60-year-old joint state and federal program.
Among those obstacles: public opinion, members of their own party in competitive districts, governors who worry about impacts to their state budgets, a closely divided Senate, and maybe one of the most formidable: hospitals and health care providers that carry significant influence in Washington.
While House Republicans and some governors are coalescing around “work requirements” in Medicaid as a way to save money, more significant cuts — and more politically perilous ones — remain on the table.
