House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Sunday that the 4.8 million people estimated to lose Medicaid coverage will not lose their healthcare “unless they choose to do so.”
Republicans have been criticized for Medicaid cuts in the “big beautiful bill” that seeks to fund President Donald Trump‘s tax cuts.
“Those 4.8 million people will not lose their Medicaid unless they choose to do so,” he told NBC.
Mike Johnson: “Those 4.8 million people will not lose their Medicaid unless they choose to do so.” pic.twitter.com/kQfr6Wz3eJ
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“You’re telling me that you’re going to require the able-bodied — these young men, for example, OK — to only work or volunteer in their community for 20 hours a week, and that’s too cumbersome for them? I’m not buying it. The American people are not buying it,” he said before adding that people who are complaining about losing their coverage are doing so “because they can’t fulfill the paperwork.”
“When people work, when able-bodied young men work, it’s good for them, for their dignity, their purpose, and it’s good for the community,” he said. “If you can’t find a job, then volunteer in your community for 20 hours, and you will meet the requirement.”
Johnson said the bill will actually strengthen Medicaid. “It’s intended for young, you know, single pregnant women and the disabled and the elderly,” he said. “But what’s happening right now is you have a lot of people, for example, young men, able-bodied workers, who are on Medicaid. They’re not working when they can.”
Democrats and some constituents of Republican lawmakers have criticized the GOP for touching Medicaid, which provides medical services for millions of people.
Some lawmakers, like Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), have been caught in awkward situations defending the cuts. While defending the cuts at a town hall, someone yelled out, “People will die!”
She responded, “Well, we are all going to die.” The comment drew condemnation on social media and displeasure from the audience. She posted a sarcastic apology on Saturday, saying, “I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this earth.”
Ernst went on to say, “So, I apologize. And I am really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.”
Trump’s “big beautiful bill” still needs to be approved by the Senate after it passed the House by one vote.
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Several GOP senators, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), have voiced their public opposition to the bill.
Some are concerned about cuts to Medicaid, while others, like Paul, have protested raising the debt ceiling.