{"id":2652195,"date":"2026-08-31T09:49:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T13:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlatest-hit-piece-shows-bias-of-the-welfare-industrial-complex\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T10:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T14:03:42","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlatest-hit-piece-shows-bias-of-the-welfare-industrial-complex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlatest-hit-piece-shows-bias-of-the-welfare-industrial-complex\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest Hit Piece Shows Bias Of The Welfare-Industrial Complex"},"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\">18<\/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%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlatest-hit-piece-shows-bias-of-the-welfare-industrial-complex%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=2652195&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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-gates-epstein-testimony-released-humiliating-revelations-chilling-russian-connections\/\" title=\"Bill Gates&#039; Epstein Testimony Released - Humiliating Revelations, Chilling Russian Connections\">article critiques media bias<\/a> in reports about recent Medicaid waiver policies, emphasizing how certain outlets frame these regulations-originally enacted by congress-in a way that portrays Republican efforts as punitive or threatening to Medicaid coverage. The author highlights that the change requiring certification from the medicare actuary to ensure that waivers do not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/audit-reveals-shady-way-biden-increased-medicaid-spending\/\" title=\"Audit Reveals Shady Way Biden Increased ... Spending\">increase federal costs<\/a> is a lawful response to past abuses and politicization of Medicaid waivers. Supporters argue that this measure promotes fiscal obligation and prevents misuse of federal funds, while critics claim it threatens Medicaid expansion and benefits. The piece underscores that many previous waivers,including those approved under the Obama management,involved overspending and abuse,which some current critics overlook. It also points out that certain narratives are driven by ideological bias and that states like Arkansas are working to comply with new rules to prevent unnecessary federal costs. the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nbc-anchor-caught-deceptively-altering-the-14th-amendment-in-trump-interview\/\" title=\"NBC Anchor Caught Deceptively Altering the 14th Amendment in Trump Interview\">discussion reveals ongoing tensions<\/a> over Medicaid funding, oversight, and political agendas, with the author defending the legality and fiscal prudence of recent reforms.  <\/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>The media never fail to amaze. Even after decades in Washington, one remains astounded at the ways in which they contort reality to meet their ideological narrative.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the takeaway from a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/medicaid\/trump-cms-medicaid-expansion-1115-waivers-budget-neutrality-arkansas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">article<\/a> outlining one element of last year\u2019s budget reconciliation law. The story blamed President Trump for implementing a law passed by Congress, and bemoaned the fact that states might not get to use the Medicaid program to engage in more questionable cash grabs from the federal government.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Waiver Approval Process<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Congress enacted the provision in question in Section 71118 of last year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.juniperresearchgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/BBB-Summary.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">budget reconciliation law<\/a>. Simply put, the provision requires all states seeking approval or renewal of Medicaid waivers \u2014 which currently encompass roughly one-third of Medicaid spending \u2014 to receive a certification from the Medicare actuary that their waiver will not increase federal spending.<\/p>\n<p>On this matter, I will readily declare my biases. Having <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/healthcare-concepts-for-a-gop-congress-trump-second-term-out-with-taxes-regulations-in-with-fiscal-responsibility-8d783e78?msockid=13b3c291829f61711db3d019869f6fb7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">publicly suggested<\/a> this provision the week after the November 2024 election as a reform Congress could enact, I supported it from the get-go and believe it will yield good policy. By contrast, Phil Galewitz, the reporter for KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation) Health News, evidently opposes the measure \u2014 but won\u2019t come out and say so outright.<\/p>\n<p>He starts by naming Trump no fewer than nine separate times in the article itself, not to mention the headline: \u201cTrump Team\u2019s Use of Arcane Budget Rule Threatens Medicaid Coverage.\u201d Even though the provision at issue was passed <em>by Congress<\/em>, the article refers to \u201cTrump\u2019s signature tax-and-spending law,\u201d and \u201cTrump\u2019s law.\u201d The framing seems particularly ironic: for all the left\u2019s talk about Trump riding roughshod over Congress and threatening democracy, they sure seem willing to overlook Congress\u2019 role in enacting legislation \u2014 that is, when they believe it suits their ideological purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, the article implied that the administration recently concocted some dastardly plot to upend the Medicaid program:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Pivoting from the long-standing practice of checking only retroactively whether states were keeping their budget promises, the Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/cms-takes-bold-new-approach-stewarding-medicaid-demonstration-project-spending\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said in June<\/a> that it would not renew or approve any waivers unless the CMS [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] first certifies that they would not increase costs to the federal government.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Except this supposed \u201cpivot\u201d was made to <em>comply with the law<\/em>. Section 71118 is clear: \u201cBeginning January 1 2027, the Secretary <em>may not approve an application<\/em> for (or renewal or amendment of)\u201d a Medicaid waiver without a certification of budget neutrality from the actuary. Again, it\u2019s funny how the same people accusing the Trump administration of running a would-be dictatorship attack it for upholding the law \u2014 just because this law happens to offend the welfare-industrial complex.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Stop Overspending<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The article quotes various experts raising doomsday scenarios about both the legislative provision and the administration\u2019s interpretation of it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cWhat we have here is a sneaky way to cut Medicaid expansion and the Medicaid program.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>States will have to clear more bureaucratic hurdles.\u2026 That could lead to fewer benefits or reduce the number of people eligible for Medicaid.<\/li>\n<li>Many long-standing waivers that have been renewed multiple times are now at risk and \u2026 the loss of state waivers could threaten money hospitals rely on to cover uninsured patients and improve care in their communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But as I previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/healthcare-concepts-for-a-gop-congress-trump-second-term-out-with-taxes-regulations-in-with-fiscal-responsibility-8d783e78?msockid=13b3c291829f61711db3d019869f6fb7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a>, these types of waivers have been ripe for abuse and politicization. In 2014, the Government Accountability Office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/670\/665265.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concluded<\/a> that federal officials approved $778 million in excess spending for an Arkansas Medicaid waiver \u2014 the Obama administration essentially using additional taxpayer dollars to bribe Arkansas into expanding Medicaid under Obamacare. (In 2024, I also proposed requiring budget-neutrality for Medicare waivers \u2014 so as to prevent a reprise of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/12\/medicare-agency-just-gave-kamala-harris-an-in-kind-contribution-with-your-tax-dollars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Biden administration\u2019s bailout of insurers<\/a> offering Medicare prescription drug coverage \u2014 but Congress sadly has not yet enacted it.) The KFF article does mention this fact \u2014 but not until its 25<sup>th<\/sup> paragraph.<\/p>\n<p>To their credit, Arkansas Medicaid officials in the administration of Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders are trying to clean up the mess left by then-Gov. Mike Beebe, D-Ark., when he and the Arkansas legislature accepted the federal bailout to expand Obamacare. Arkansas officials are working to modify the Medicaid waiver to ensure it doesn\u2019t cost the federal government additional money.<\/p>\n<p>But the other experts quoted in Galewitz\u2019s article \u2014 to say nothing of blue states that will face the same dilemma Arkansas does as their Medicaid waivers come up for renewal \u2014 are making a disingenuous argument. All their talk about \u201ccuts\u201d and added burdens ignores the fact that state Medicaid programs never should have received additional federal dollars like the extra money awarded to Arkansas in the first place. Obsessing about the former to the exclusion of the latter amounts to a blunt, albeit tacit, admission: <em>\u201cWe stole that money fair and square!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/23\/leftist-think-tank-ignores-potential-medicaid-fraud-to-smear-trumps-budget-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained last year<\/a> how think tanks like KFF don\u2019t really care about fraud, so long as that fraud results in more people obtaining \u201ccoverage.\u201d The recent story amounts to a reprise of the genre: it matters little that states are bilking the federal government for money they don\u2019t deserve, so long as that money goes toward supporting the welfare state. The taxpayers footing the bill for this additional, unjustified spending might beg to differ.<\/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>Media distorts facts to fit narratives, even decades in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2652196,"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\/08\/7995266112_565491fb9f_h-e1787885571339.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5050,34794,35069,32171,51397],"class_list":["post-2652195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-bias","tag-hit-piece","tag-industrial-complex","tag-political-commentary","tag-welfare-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7995266112_565491fb9f_h-e1787885571339.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652195","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=2652195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2652208,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652195\/revisions\/2652208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2652196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2652195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2652195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2652195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}