Sara Rosenbaum, writing in the  Commonwealth Fund’s Web site, says that  Republican congressional leaders’ plan for Medicaid “would likely not only dramatically cut federal funding {for Medicaid} but also extinguish Medicaid’s guarantee of coverage for all Medicaid beneficiaries, not just the 11 million whose coverage is the direct result of the ACA Medicaid eligibility expansion. This is because the proposal would restructure all of Medicaid, not merely the ACA expansion provisions. Only about one of seven people Medicaid reaches today has gained coverage under the ACA eligibility expansion; the vast majority of beneficiaries fall into traditional eligibility categories: poor children, extremely destitute parents, pregnant women, the low-income elderly, and impoverished people with disabilities.”

She continues: The outline of the GOP plan suggests that “Congress might allow states to move away from traditional Medicaid coverage principles by permitting them to cut services, such as nursing home care or physician care. It might even allow states to entirely eliminate Medicaid’s basic guarantee of any coverage for people who meet program eligibility requirements. Some states might recreate Medicaid’s current federal coverage guarantee though a state law. Yet in the face of the steep federal funding losses contemplated under the House proposal, such a move is highly unlikely.”

To read her article, please hit this link.