Cantwell Joins Schumer & Colleagues To Call on GOP: Don’t Cut Medicaid

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other colleagues for a press conference at the Capitol calling on Republican lawmakers to protect Medicaid funding.
“We're here today to say it's time for the war on health care to stop,”Sen. Cantwell said.“President Trump's cutting of NIH is causing great impacts to our health care system. President Trump's tariffs are causing higher cost on prescription drugs. And the proposed budget that we still haven't seen the details on  --$880 billion in Medicaid cuts-- is going to cause a devastating impact to communities all across the United States.”
In her remarks, Sen. Cantwell cited alettersent by a coalition of Washington state hospital leaders and Republican elected officials opposing any cuts to Medicaid. The group included the CEOs of Skyline Health and Klickitat Valley Hospital, as well as multiple Republican members of the Washington state legislature, leaders of Klickitat County, and councilmembers of White Salmon and Goldendale.
The letter emphasized that hospitals in rural areas are especially reliant on Medicaid, and any funding reductions would result in loss of services or even hospital closures.
“The fact that in my state, five to seven hospitals could close as a result of that, and many other impacts on rural health care has caused a group of citizens to send a letter to my House colleagues urging them to oppose cuts to Medicaid rates, any adjustment to the Federal Medical Assistance Program, or direct Medicaid payment programs,”Sen. Cantwell continued.
“Who are these people? Some of them are hospital CEOs. But guess who else they are? Republican state representatives, Republican county commissioners, city councilpeople from the communities, they all know this is the wrong idea. And they are not interested in a sneak attack by the Republicans of saying that they can successfully cut $880 billion and not have an impact on our communities.”
Medicaid, also known as Apple Health in Washington state, pays for home-based long-term services and supports for 105,700 Washingtonians.  Last week, Sen. Cantwell released a snapshotreporthighlighting the impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Washington state'shighly-rankedlong-term care system for seniors and people with disabilities. In February, she additionally released a snapshotreportthat demonstrated how cuts would harm health care access in Washington state, and followed up with areportin March that dove into impacts on the Puget Sound region.
Highlights of those snapshot reports include:
In the coming weeks, Congressional Republicans are expected to release details of their plan tocut as much as $880 billionfrom Medicaid, the federal program that insures many low-income adults and children, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities.
READ MORE:
Axios: GOP faces Medicaid conundrum with clock ticking
Newsweek: Medicaid funding reduction suggested by Mehemet Oz
Medicaid is a crucial support for WA’s long-term care system, paying for home care workers that help seniors and people with disabilities stay in their homes. When these patients need a level of care that only a nursing home can provide, Medicaid can reimburse nursing homes for that care.
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks today are availableHEREand a full transcript isHERE.