'Might seem shocking': Analysis outlines how Trump agenda also targets Americans on Medicare

[justaprogressive]

President Donald Trump and his allies are insisting that his One Big, Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 — which narrowly passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 215-214, and is now being considered in the U.S. Senate — won't hurt Medicaid in a significant way and is only targeting "waste, fraud and abuse." According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), however, the bill's Medicaid cuts will cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance if it becomes law.

Trump also claims that the megabill doesn't touch Medicare at all. But Jonathan Cohn, in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on June 15, warns that the legislation, if it passes in the U.S. Senate in its current form, will hurt the Medicare recipients who need it the most.

"Republicans say the health care cuts in their One Big Beautiful Bill wouldn't touch Medicare," Cohn explains. "That is not true. One reason is the bill's projected fiscal effects. Thanks to all the tax cuts, the legislation would likely increase deficits enough to trigger automatic spending reductions that, under the terms of a 2010 law, would include cuts to Medicare."

Cohn continues, "But the claim is also not true for another reason: One of the more important health care cuts in the legislation would affect Medicare beneficiaries. And not just any Medicare beneficiaries. I'm talking about some of the most vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities who are on Medicare — the ones who can least afford to deal with punishing medical bills."

https://www.alternet.org/trump-medicare-bulwark/

[Silent Type]

1. An unintended consequence of the Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 introduced and supported by Democrats. It's usually waived

or postponed in situations like this, but we can't count on it.

In the past, there have been periods of time when Medicare cut payments to providers 2% or so. And, yes, Medicare Advantage payments would be cut too.

https://www.kff.org/quick-take/house-reconciliation-bill-could-trigger-500-billion-in-mandatory-medicare-cuts/

[UTUSN]

2. K&R