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Molly Butler / Media Matters

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MAGA media parrot GOP lie about looming Medicaid cuts

Analysts predict millions of Americans will lose Medicaid coverage to fund Republican tax cuts for the rich

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published

Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers are getting help from their MAGA media allies to deny the effects of their “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed the GOP-controlled House last month and is expected to kick millions of Americans off their Medicaid coverage while cutting taxes for the rich. Journalists and experts are calling out these Republicans for their lies that their bill won’t cut Medicaid.

Following this criticism, the administration is reportedly shifting its argument to falsely claim that the only people who will lose Medicaid coverage will be those who don’t deserve it, specifically “people who are here illegally” and “capable and able-bodied men who refuse to work.” This too, is a lie. 

The vast majority (92%) of people on Medicaid already work or engage in caregiving or have disabilities or other statuses that would exempt them from a work requirement. The remaining 8% of the population is overwhelmingly made up of women, not the hypothetical “capable and able-bodied men who refuse to work.” And furthermore, federal Medicaid funding already cannot be used to pay for coverage of undocumented immigrants; states that currently provide analogous health care coverage to undocumented immigrants do so with their own tax dollars.

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  • Republican officials denied Medicaid cuts will result in enrollment losses

    • House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on NBC’s Meet the Press that “4.8 million people will not lose their Medicaid unless they choose to do so.” Johnson was defending the work requirements the GOP legislation is adding to Medicaid. [NBC News, 6/1/25]
    • Trump Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought on CNN’s State of the Union: “No one will lose coverage as a result of this bill.” Vought also defended the new Medicaid work requirements, stating: “We have able-bodied working adults that don’t have a work requirement that they would have in TANF or even SNAP. And those are something that’s very important to institute. That’s what this bill does.” [Politico, 6/1/25]
    • Trump Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a Politico interview, “We’re not cutting Medicaid.” Later in the interview, Oz agreed when interviewer Dasha Burns said that work requirements are “the biggest part of” how Republicans “want to kind of cut and cull” Medicaid. [Politico, 6/1/25]
    • Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on CNBC’s Squawk Box: “There’s a lot of confusion that Democrats have lied about. They went out there, Joe, and said that we’re cutting Medicaid benefits.” [CNBC, Squawk Box, 6/2/25]
    • Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told a constituent that “we are all going to die” in response to complaints about the GOP bill stripping Americans of Medicaid coverage. This comment followed her claim that only people ineligible for Medicaid would lose coverage. [NPR, 5/31/25]

  • Right-wing media have amplified these Republican lies that their bill will not lead to losses in Medicaid coverage

    • Breitbart: “Speaker Johnson: ‘No Medicaid cuts in the big beautiful bill.’” [Breitbart, 6/1/25]
    • The Post Millennial posted clips of Johnson claiming “we’re not cutting Medicaid,” defending Medicaid work requirements, and framing those requirements as “strengthening the program.” [Twitter/X, 6/1/25, 6/1/25]
    • Daily Caller: “‘We’re not cutting Medicaid’: Dr. Oz seems to confirm Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ will not cut program.” [Daily Caller, 5/30/25]
    • Pro-Trump CNBC host Joe Kernen joined Mullin in denying that Republicans are cutting Medicaid, stating: “No one believes that.” [CNBC, Squawk Box, 6/2/25; Mediaite, 12/5/24]
    • Fox Business host Dagen McDowell: “Anybody on the left, Josh Hawley, anybody crying about Medicaid cuts, there are no cuts. Shut up.” [Fox Business, The Big Money Show, 6/2/25]
    • Newsmax chyron: “Dems lie about Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill.'” Newsmax host Carl Higbie aired clips of Democrats calling out Republican cuts to Medicaid and said, “They are not exactly telling the truth.” His guest, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), said, “Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security are not getting touched,” after Higbie said: “So no cuts there.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 5/29/25]
    • Newsmax host Marc Lotter cited a Trump post claiming there will be “NO CUTS” to Medicaid when asking a guest, “Do you think, finally, Americans can actually separate the fact from fiction here?” Lotter added: “Democrats use this same rhetoric every time they oppose Republicans.” [Newsmax, Wake Up America, 6/3/25]

  • Media and issue experts call out Republicans for lies about the bill cutting Medicaid coverage

    • Rolling Stone: “Mike Johnson and Russ Vought continue to lie about Medicaid cuts.” The Rolling Stone article noted that Vought vastly exaggerated the rate of “improper” Medicaid payments, and falsely claimed that undocumented immigrants are “on the program.” Rolling Stone then cited multiple estimates showing millions of people losing Medicaid coverage if the GOP bill becomes law. A second Rolling Stone article on this topic declared, “Republicans are flat-out lying about their Medicaid cuts.” [Rolling Stone, 6/1/25, 6/2/25]
    • Washington Post economics columnist Catherine Rampell mocked the Republican dissembling about Medicaid coverage losses from their bill. Rampell wrote: “OP response to credible estimates that ~8m people will lose insurance due to Medicaid cuts: 1) no one will lose coverage 2) only the freeloaders and bums will lose coverage (not deserving people like you!) 3) look we're all going to die anyway.” [Twitter/X, 6/1/25]
    • Public Notice’s Aaron Rupar: “Vought blatantly lies about Medicaid cuts on CNN, claiming ‘no one will lose coverage as a result of this bill.’” [Twitter/X, 6/1/25]
    • Rupar: “Mike Johnson blatantly lies on Meet the Press: ‘You can underscore what I'm about to tell you -- there are no Medicaid cuts in the big beautiful bill.’” [Twitter/X, 6/1/25]
    • Rupar: “CNBC allows Markwayne Mullin to lie with impunity that Republicans aren't cutting Medicaid benefits (they are cutting Medicaid benefits).” [Twitter/X, 6/2/25]
    • Chamber of Progress director of economic analysis Tahra Hoops: “This is incredibly false. Millions would lose their coverage under this bill, there is no other result should this pass.” [Twitter/X, 6/1/25]
    • KFF executive vice president for health policy Larry Levitt: “You can’t argue that cuts to Medicaid of over $700 billion over a decade won’t result in people losing coverage.” [Twitter/X, 6/1/25]
    • The Atlantic contributing writer James Surowiecki: “If no one will lose Medicaid coverage as a result of the budget bill, then Republicans are telling extraordinary lies about the spending cuts in the bill.” [Twitter/X, 6/2/25]
    • Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias: “The CBO says that approximately 7,600,000 people will lose coverage as a result of the bill’s Medicaid cuts.” Yglesias was responding to a clip of Vought denying losses of Medicaid coverage in his CNN interview. [Twitter/X, 6/1/25]

  • Independent estimates predict millions of Americans will lose their Medicaid coverage if the bill passes

    • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Republicans’ tax bill would cut $1.1 trillion from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and SNAP to fund tax cuts for people earning more than $500,000 annually. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/16/25]
    • Politico: The Congressional Budget Office estimated that “the Medicaid portions of the GOP megabill would lead to 10.3 million people losing coverage under the health safety net program and 7.6 million people going uninsured.” According to Politico, this was a partial estimate released by Republicans. [Politico, 5/13/25]
    • CBPP: “Roughly 15 million people could lose coverage and become uninsured under House Republican plan.” The CBPP added the expected 7.6 million uninsured from the Medicaid cuts alone to estimates of coverage losses from the House GOP bill’s failure to extend premium tax credits and other cuts to the Affordable Care Act. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/29/25]

    A CBPP graphic demonstrating insurance coverage losses from GOP legislation

    • KFF: Forty states and the District of Columbia could see at least 13% of their Medicaid recipients kicked off their insurance, with rates of loss as high as 32%. This is a high-end estimate of state-by-state Medicaid coverage losses from KFF. [KFF, 5/16/25]
    • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: New work requirements alone could put “9.7 million to 14.4 million people at risk of losing Medicaid coverage in 2034.” CBPP explained, “Evidence shows that much of the coverage loss due to work requirements would occur among people who work or should qualify for an exemption but nevertheless would lose coverage due to red tape.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/13/25]
    • Economic Policy Institute: “Work requirements effectively function like a cut to programs.” EPI explained that “while work requirements do not reliably increase employment, they do significantly increase the administrative burden and costs of applying for safety net programs. This increased administrative burden, in turn, reduces access and take-up.” EPI further explained, “In many cases, the sheer amount of additional administrative burdens levied on adults seeking benefits, and on case workers screening to ensure that work requirements are met, is a major driver in the decline in participation.” [Economic Policy Institute, 1/24/25]