Chuck Schumer and Democrats Want to Break Medicaid. Again.

Senate Democrats Debuted New Legislation to Go Back to the Failed Biden Administration Policies That Sent Medicaid Costs Soaring and Jeopardized the Program for Its Intended Recipients

SENATE DEMOCRATS INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO ROLL BACK THE ENTIRETY OF REPUBLICANS’ MEDICAID REFORMS AND RESTORE THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S DISASTROUS RULES

“Our bill is straightforward: it repeals the entire healthcare subtitle of the Republicans’ bill.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

“[T]he Biden Administration’s policy was willful ignorance about whether folks enrolled in these programs were eligible or continuing to need public assistance. To take one example: The Biden Administration banned states from checking Medicaid eligibility more than once a year, though many people need the program only as a temporary safety net.” (The Wall Street Journal: Meet the Medicaid Double-Dippers – 7/21/25)

During the Biden administration, federal spending on Medicaid skyrocketed: “[F]rom $409 billion in 2019 to $615 billion in 2023… That’s a 50% jump from 2019 to 2023.” (New York Post: Editorial: ‘Deadly’ GOP ‘cuts’ don’t even touch Medicaid’s 50% growth since 2019 – 6/3/25)

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Medicaid’s intended recipients will continue to receive Medicaid coverage: “Before passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Medicaid program focused on caring for seniors in need, pregnant mothers, children and Americans with disabilities. But in 2010, the ACA fundamentally changed Medicaid by shifting predominantly low-income adults — often without children, healthy and working-age — into a program that wasn’t designed for them.” (The Washington Post: op-ed: Making Medicaid a pathway out of poverty – 2/4/18)

By rolling back Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Democrats are fighting to eliminate a $50 billion rural hospital fund. (Politico: GOP boosts rural hospital fund – 7/1/25; Paragon Health Institute: Championing Senate Reforms and Countering Rural Hospital Hysteria in the Fight Against Medicaid Money Laundering – 6/27/25)

Democrats are also fighting to restore Medicaid funding to nonprofit abortion clinics. (The Wall Street Journal: op-ed: Planned Parenthood Gets Cut Off – 7/7/25)

DEMOCRATS’ BILL WOULD PUT PEOPLE BACK ON MEDICAID WHO THE PROGRAM IS NOT MEANT TO SERVE, SENDING RIGHTFUL MEDICAID RECIPIENTS TO THE BACK OF THE LINE

Democrats’ bill would allow unemployed, able-bodied individuals without dependents to receive taxpayer-funded Medicaid. A May 2025 American Enterprise Institute study found, “[f]or Medicaid recipients who do not report working, the most common activity after sleeping is watching television and playing video games. They spend 4.2 hours per day watching television and playing video games, or 125 hours during a 30-day month.” (American Enterprise Institute: How Nondisabled Medicaid Recipients Without Children Spend Their Time – 5/29/25)

Republicans’ bill establishes work requirements for able-bodied adults who don’t have dependent children younger than 14 years of age or a disabled individual in their care. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo Highlights Tax Wins for Hardworking Americans and Main Street – 6/28/25)

“Able-bodied adults without dependents can work, participate in a work training program, enroll in school or volunteer for 20 hours per week in order to receive taxpayer-subsidized Medicaid coverage.” (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo Highlights Tax Wins for Hardworking Americans and Main Street – 6/28/25)

According to a March poll, 62% of Americans support Medicaid work requirements, including 82% of Republicans and 60% of independents. (Kaiser Family Foundation: KFF Health Tracking Poll February 2025: The Public’s Views on Potential Changes to Medicaid – 3/7/25)

Republicans’ “work requirements are projected to save about $325 billion over a decade.” (The Hill: Senate megabill marks biggest Medicaid cuts in history – 7/1/25)

SCHUMER AND DEMOCRATS WANT AMERICANS TO WRONGFULLY SUBSIDIZE WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE

Democrats’ bill reverses important eligibility check requirements and reforms that crack down on Medicaid waste and fraud. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo Highlights Tax Wins for Hardworking Americans and Main Street – 6/28/25)

Democrats want a return to the status quo, which led to massive waste at the federal and state level:
- On the federal Medicaid rolls, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that 1.2 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program in two or more states. (The Wall Street Journal: Meet the Medicaid Double-Dippers – 7/21/25)

- CMS also found that another 1.6 million individuals were enrolled in both Medicaid and ObamaCare in 2024. (The Wall Street Journal: Meet the Medicaid Double-Dippers – 7/21/25)

- “CMS estimates that the duplicate enrollment problem is costing as much as $14 billion a year.” (The Wall Street Journal: Meet the Medicaid Double-Dippers – 7/21/25)

- “As many as 3 million New Yorkers may be fraudulently reaping taxpayer-funded Medicaid and other public health insurance benefits at a potential cost of $20 billion a year, a staggering new study claims.” (New York Post: 3 million New Yorkers on Medicaid, public health insurance are costing state a staggering $20B in potentially ‘fraudulent’ coverage: report – 11/26/24)

- “Thousands of deceased Coloradans stayed on the state’s Medicaid rolls, as the state continued paying managed care organizations to cover them… Colorado made an estimated $7.3 million in capitation payments between 2018 and 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). The payments continued for some Coloradans months after their deaths because of outdated reporting and system delays, state officials said.” (The Denver Gazette: Colorado kept paying for thousands of dead people on Medicaid rolls, audit says – 5/11/25)

- “A Louisiana woman who purchased a Lamborghini while fraudulently obtaining Medicaid benefits is facing a fraud charge… ‘From 2021 through 2024, Ms. Taylor continued to transfer tens of thousands of dollars between her personal and business accounts, with personal inflows consistently exceeding the eligibility thresholds for Medicaid,’ the affidavit directly states.” (Fox News: Louisiana 'Medicaid millionaire' bought Lamborghini while claiming government benefits for years – 7/30/25)

SCHUMER AND DEMOCRATS WANT AMERICANS TO PAY FOR THE HEALTH COVERAGE OF NONCITIZENS TOO

Under the Biden administration, Democrats allowed 10.5 million people to pour across the southwest border. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Southwest Land Border Encounters – accessed 8/1/25; Fox News’ Bill Melugin: post on X – 8/20/24; The Washington Post: Trump vs. Biden on immigration: 12 charts comparing U.S. border security – 7/28/24)

Now, Schumer wants to give these noncitizens a better health care deal than Americans receive and have taxpayers pay for their Obamacare subsidies, Medicaid and Medicare. (U.S. Congress: S.2556 – A bill to repeal the changes made by the health subtitle of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and for other purposes. – accessed 8/1/25; U.S. Congress: H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act – accessed 8/1/25)

Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act ensures that noncitizens do not receive federal Medicaid benefits by strengthening Medicaid eligibility checks, and prohibits parolee noncitizens and others from being eligible for Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare subsidies. (U.S. Congress: H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act – accessed 8/1/25)

During consideration of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Democrats voted to allow illegal immigrants to continue receiving health benefits:
- Senate Democrats blocked Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) effort to penalize states that provide health benefits with their own scarce dollars to illegal aliens who have been convicted or charged with sex offenses, human trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, murder, or explicit images of a minor. (Motion to Waive re: Cornyn Amdt. No. 2705: Roll Call Vote #342 – 6/30/25)

- Senate Democrats unanimously rejected Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) effort to prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer benefits like Medicaid and CHIP. (Motion to Waive re: Blackburn Amdt. No. 2401: Roll Call Vote #345 – 6/30/25)