{"id":2571804,"date":"2026-02-20T08:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-claim-gop-gutted-medicaid-federal-data-shows-the-opposite\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T08:26:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:26:56","slug":"democrats-claim-gop-gutted-medicaid-federal-data-shows-the-opposite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-claim-gop-gutted-medicaid-federal-data-shows-the-opposite\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Claim GOP \u2018Gutted\u2019 Medicaid. Data Shows Opposite"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-claim-gop-gutted-medicaid-federal-data-shows-the-opposite%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2571804&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece argues that Democrats will claim Republicans \u201ccut\u201d Medicaid in last year\u2019s reconciliation bill, but the CBO shows Republicans\u2019 reforms only slowed growth while overall spending continues to rise. From June 2024 to January 2025, Medicaid spending estimates increased by $817 billion (about 12%), driven by Biden-era policies such as expanded eligibility, efforts to prevent fraud, a mandate to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >cover anti-obesity medications<\/a>, incentives to broaden expansion to able-bodied adults, and more generous federal matching. The reconciliation bill did undo many of these changes\u2014repealing expansion incentives, blocking some mandates, tightening Medicaid financing abuses, and introducing work requirements for able-bodied adults\u2014but it did not alter the core benefits for vulnerable groups like seniors, the disabled, and children.<\/p>\n<p>The article also notes what it calls \u201cthe other half of the story.\u201d In its latest outlook,the CBO estimated that last year\u2019s bill would reduce Medicaid spending by about $1.184 trillion, a figure Democrats will highlight. Yet the same report said technical changes would add about $700 billion to spending over the next decade, and costs per enrollee rose 16% in 2025.Even with reduced enrollment, the overall trajectory shows Medicaid spending continuing to climb from 2026 through 2036\u2014an estimated 39% increase due to inflation and real per-beneficiary growth.<\/p>\n<p>The piece contends that these dynamics indict ongoing, unsustainable entitlements and that the reforms enacted were only a first step to slow the growth, not a lasting cure. The author is Chris Jacobs, founder and CEO of Juniper research Group.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Between now and the November midterm elections, Democrats and their allies will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-2-minute-activity-to-boost-muscle-mass\/\" title=\"A 2-Minute Activity to Boost Muscle Mass\">spend countless hours<\/a> and energy claiming Republicans &ldquo;cut&rdquo; Medicaid in last year&rsquo;s reconciliation legislation. Don&rsquo;t you believe it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report demonstrates how Republicans&rsquo; reforms in that law merely attempted to slow an unsustainable Medicaid program following a Biden-era spending explosion. But for good or for ill, the program&rsquo;s spending continues to grow inexorably higher, notwithstanding those reforms.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Scaling Back Biden&rsquo;s Spending Binge<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Last January, I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/congress-can-rein-in-medicaid-spending-cbo-medicaid-e8233d8d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote about<\/a> that Biden-era Medicaid explosion. From June 2024 to January 2025, CBO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/publication\/61172\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">increased its estimates<\/a> of Medicaid spending by $817 billion, or 12 percent, and cited five factors driving such rapid spending growth. Democrat policy priorities, most of them imposed by the Biden administration unilaterally, were at the root of those factors: administrative actions to <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.ssa.gov\/social-security-to-expand-access-to-ssi-program-by-updating-definition-of-a-public-assistance-household\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expand eligibility<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/FR-2024-04-02\/pdf\/2024-06566.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prevent states<\/a> from cracking down on fraud, a <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/healthcare\/5010254-biden-administration-proposes-obesity-drug-coverage-medicare-medicaid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mandate on states<\/a> to cover anti-obesity medications, greater incentives for states to expand Medicaid to able-bodied adults, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/FR-2024-05-10\/pdf\/2024-08085.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">policy changes<\/a> allowing states to bilk the federal government out of additional Medicaid matching funds.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.juniperresearchgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/BBB-Summary.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">budget reconciliation bill<\/a> Republicans passed last year undid many of those changes. It repealed the additional incentives Congress passed in 2021 for states to embrace Obamacare&rsquo;s Medicaid expansion, blocked several costly Biden-era mandates, cracked down on state abuses of the Medicaid financing system, and instituted work requirements for able-bodied adults. But it made no explicit changes to the benefits provided to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-could-save-new-englanders-1-billion-with-pipeline\/\" title=\"New York Could Save New Englanders  ...ion With Pipeline\">vulnerable populations &#038;mdash<\/a>; seniors, individuals with disabilities, and children &mdash; for which Medicaid was originally designed.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Other Half of the Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Last week, CBO released its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2026-02\/61882-Outlook-2026.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">annual report<\/a> on the budget and economic outlook, its first fiscal update since the reconciliation measure last July. It estimated that last year&rsquo;s bill would reduce Medicaid spending by $1.184 trillion, a fact Democrats will dutifully repeat <em>ad infinitum<\/em> between now and Nov. 3.<\/p>\n<p>But the welfare-industrial complex won&rsquo;t bother to mention several other important Medicaid facts to voters. First, even after taking into account the changes in the reconciliation bill, CBO now estimates Medicaid will spend more under Donald Trump than it estimated during the last year of Joe Biden&rsquo;s presidency. You read that right: From 2026 through 2034, CBO now estimates that Medicaid will spend $7.124 trillion, versus an estimate of $6.862 trillion in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2024-06\/51301-2024-06-medicaid.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">June 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In part, that dynamic occurs because, notwithstanding the changes Republicans enacted into law last year, Medicaid spending continues to climb ever higher. Even as it reduced Medicaid spending by nearly $1.2 trillion to reflect legislative changes from the reconciliation bill, CBO cited &ldquo;technical changes&rdquo; to increase spending by $700 billion over the coming decade. While noting lower-than-expected enrollment growth in 2025, &ldquo;[c]osts per enrollee grew by 16 percent in 2025 &mdash; significantly more than CBO had anticipated,&rdquo; and a trend the budget gnomes expect to continue.<\/p>\n<p>Contra claims about Medicaid &ldquo;cuts,&rdquo; program spending will continue to grow every single year over the coming decade. From 2026 through 2036, CBO believes Medicaid spending will grow by a total of 39 percent, due to both growth from inflation and 18 percent growth in real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) spending per beneficiary.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats will cite the estimated 14 percent reduction in Medicaid beneficiaries as evidence of the likely harm caused by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schumer-stresses-importance-of-democratic-unity-to-pass-covid-bill\/\" title=\"Schumer Stresses Importance Of Democratic Unity To Pass Covid ...\">budget reconciliation measure<\/a>. But even here, CBO notes that the number of individuals &ldquo;losing&rdquo; coverage &ldquo;includes 1.5 million enrollees whose records indicated enrollment in more than one state and who would retain Medicaid eligibility in their current state of residence.&rdquo; This &ldquo;cut&rdquo; reflects not individuals being harmed but &ldquo;enrollees&rdquo; who never should have had duplicate coverage to begin with.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Unsustainable Programs Require Reform<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Rather than showing Draconian reductions under the new law, the CBO report illustrates how Medicaid spending, like that of other federal health care programs, continues to grow ever higher. It serves as an indictment, not of congressional Republicans who enacted common-sense Medicaid reforms as a first step to slow the spiraling growth in costs, but of those who continue to ignore our unsustainable entitlements.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8211; 55-character paraphrase:<br \/>\nCBO: GOP reforms slowed Medicaid growth, not cut today.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Expanded paraphrase:<br \/>\nDemocrats and their allies are likely to spend time arguing that Republicans \u201ccut\u201d Medicaid in last year\u2019s reconciliation bill, but a Congressional Budget Office analysis suggests those reforms only aimed to slow the program\u2019s unsustainable spending after the Biden era. Despite those changes, Medicaid costs are still rising. The reconciliation bill rolled back several Biden\u2011era incentives and added work requirements, but did not reduce benefits for seniors, people with disabilities, or children. In its latest outlook, the CBO projects overall Medicaid spending will still be higher than Biden-era projections and grow over the coming decade, with some of the apparent beneficiary reductions arising from duplicate enrollments rather than genuine cuts. The piece concludes that Medicaid\u2019s growth is structurally unsustainable and that meaningful reform\u2014not deep reductions\u2014is needed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2571805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hospital-Bed-Photo-by-Olga-Kononenko.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[3685,51854,6203,74197,11975],"class_list":["post-2571804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-democrats","tag-fact-checking-2","tag-gop","tag-healthcare-policy-2","tag-medicaid"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hospital-Bed-Photo-by-Olga-Kononenko.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2571804"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2571808,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571804\/revisions\/2571808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2571805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2571804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2571804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2571804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}