Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a bill to repeal Medicaid cuts, just two weeks after voting for legislation that enacted them.
President Donald Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ was signed into law on July 4 after Republican lawmakers passed the sweeping legislative package in a marathon 26-hour Senate vote.
The bill will reduce Medicaid funding for many states, which means millions of Americans with low income could face reduced benefits or lose coverage entirely.
Highlights
- Josh Hawley introduced a bill to repeal Medicaid cuts just two weeks after voting for the bill enacting them.
- Hawley aims to double rural hospital funding to $100 billion over 10 years and repeal Medicaid provider tax reductions.
- Donald Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ cuts Medicaid funding, risking millions losing coverage and threatening the closure of 300 rural hospitals now.
- Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, criticized Hawley for supporting Medicaid cuts, then trying to reverse them.
Senator Josh Hawley wants to repeal Medicaid cuts after voting for them
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Missouri Senator Hawley and other senators, such as Lisa Murkowski, managed to carve out exceptions while the GOP courted those on the fence to secure their votes.
This included $50 billion in support for rural hospitals, which are expected to take the hardest hit from the cuts—a plan that will be fully phased in by 2028.
But Hawley now wants to repeal cuts to Medicaid and double investment in the Rural Health Transformation Fund to $100 billion, as well as extend it to 10 years.
“President Trump has always said we have to protect Medicaid for working people,” he said in a statement. “Now is the time to prevent any future cuts to Medicaid from going into effect.
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“We should also increase our support for rural hospitals around the country. Under the recent reconciliation bill, Missouri will see an extra $1 billion for hospitals over the next four years.
“I want to see Medicaid reductions stopped, and rural hospitals fully funded permanently.”
His proposed bill would repeal the provider tax moratorium and the future reduction of provider tax authority in the reconciliation bill.
This would restore a key aspect of Medicaid funding that states rely on to finance their programs.
In addition, it would repeal provisions in the bill related to state-directed payments that could reduce Medicaid reimbursements.
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Trump’s sweeping package will extend tax cuts he introduced in 2017 and will increase spending on border security and defense.
Last week, Hawley told NBC News that while he didn’t agree with aspects of the bill, such as the Medicaid cuts, you “gotta take the wins that you can.”
He has been criticized by Democrats for voting to pass the legislation when he had doubts.
“Josh Hawley wants you to forget that he voted to take away Medicaid from millions of Americans across this country,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X. “We won’t let him.”
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Senator Chris Coons was among those to show confusion.
“Just so I’m clear… he’s introducing a bill….to repeal the bill… he voted for….two weeks ago,” Coons wrote on X.
Schumer had earlier warned that the implications of the bill were already being felt.
“At least 300 rural hospitals are at immediate risk of closing because of this bill,” he said Tuesday. “Not two years from now. Now, this week. Two weeks after the bill passed.”
“Hospitals in Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Maine have already announced that they’re closing or in serious danger of closing—not in 2027, not in 2028, but soon,” Schumer added.