DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF NEWS) — The fight continues in the Senate over proposed legislation that could eventually replace Obamacare.
A newly proposed version of the bill includes deep cuts in funding for Medicaid, the nation’s largest single health insurer.
Since Obamacare was enacted, 11 million more low income Americans were added to the rolls.
Republicans say that expansion needs to be cut back.
“More than half of the people who got coverage under Obamacare are in state Medicaid programs,” says Cal Jillson, a Political Science Professor at SMU.
“Those funds from the federal government are being tightened down over the course of the next decade.”
Right now, the Federal government pays about 60% of the cost for Medicaid. The states make up the remaining 40%.
Supporters of the Senate healthcare bill say they’re giving control of the program back to the states, and asking them to pay for the program almost entirely.
Opponents say the cuts will mean millions of Americans will lose medical coverage.