Medicare and Medicaid

The GOP’s proposed Medicaid cuts would end Medicare Part D Extra Help for millions of low-income seniors, jeopardizing access to vital medications and potentially causing thousands of preventable deaths.

Democrats’ “Project 2029” aims to counter GOP plans but lacks the populist focus needed to win voters.

Trump’s budget plan slashes Medicaid by $700 billion and raises the deficit by $2.8 trillion to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.

Senator Lankford claims Medicaid cuts will shift recipients to employer-based coverage, but in reality, millions of low-wage workers—especially in industries like restaurants and construction where such benefits are rare—are likely to lose health insurance altogether.

Cutting Medicare Advantage overpayments is a crucial reform to stop private insurers from defrauding taxpayers through practices like upcoding, not a cut to Medicare or seniors’ benefits.

Today’s episode exposes the waste and inequity in U.S. healthcare, arguing that a single-payer system like Medicare for All could cut costs, expand access, and improve outcomes through smarter spending and reform.

Dean Baker talks with healthcare journalist Jonathan Cohn about the historic assault on Medicaid at the heart of the 2025 budget bill.

Medicaid is –by a large margin– the most important stopgap for workers that don’t have employer-based coverage. Currently, one of every ten workers obtains their health coverage through Medicaid, which is fully one third of all workers that don’t have employer-based health insurance. Explore more in our Profile of Workers with Health Insurance through Medicaid Fact Sheet.

Medicaid by State Factsheet 2025. Source: CEPR analysis of the 2024 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. Data refer to Medicaid status as of March 2024.