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Republicans' Reconciliation Bill to Devastate Health Care Across America

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a virtual press conference with Dr. Timothy Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine, and Sommer Kleweno-Walley, CEO of Harborview Medical Center, highlighting the catastrophic consequences of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's massive health care cuts. The legislation, backed by Republicans, will slash over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) over the next 10 years, leaving millions without health insurance and exacerbating access issues nationwide.

Key Takeaways:

  • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that Republicans' health care cuts will terminate health insurance for at least 17 million Americans nationwide, making health care more expensive and harder to access.
  • Washington state will be among the hardest-hit states, losing an estimated 26% of its Medicaid enrollment, affecting nearly 2 million people, including 800,000 children, enrolled in Apple Health.
  • Hospitals in Washington state could lose at least $662 million in Medicaid revenue every year, forcing them to lay off staff, cut services, or close their doors entirely, while the state is expected to lose between $31 billion and $51 billion in federal Medicaid dollars over the next decade.
  • The Republican cuts represent a more than $400 billion dollar hit to America's hospitals, which are the sixth-largest employer in the country, with an estimated 477,000 health workers losing their jobs.
  • Senator Murray has held numerous events to sound the alarm on the devastating reconciliation bill, and has forced Republicans to take dozens of tough votes over a nonstop 30-hour "vote-a-rama."
  • Senator Murray spoke out repeatedly on the Senate floor against Republicans' use of a depictive "current policy baseline" to hide the true cost of their deficit-busting tax cuts for billionaires.
  • Doubts remain over the Medicaid expansion under the Republican leadership, affecting nearly one in five Washingtonians, or 400,000 individuals, including at least 250,000 who will lose Apple Health coverage and as many as 150,000 who will be newly priced out of the state's health care exchange, Washington Healthplanfinder.

Statistics:

  • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that Republicans' health care cuts will terminate health insurance for at least 17 million Americans nationwide.
  • Washington state will lose an estimated 26% of its Medicaid enrollment, affecting nearly 2 million people, including 800,000 children, enrolled in Apple Health.
  • Hospitals in Washington state could lose at least $662 million in Medicaid revenue every year.
  • The Republican cuts represent a more than $400 billion dollar hit to America's hospitals.
  • An estimated 477,000 health workers will lose their jobs as a result of the Republican cuts to Medicaid.
  • Washington state is expected to lose between $31 billion and $51 billion in federal Medicaid dollars over the next decade.

Sources:

  • Office of the Senator Patty Murray
  • Dr. Timothy Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine
  • Sommer Kleweno-Walley, CEO of Harborview Medical Center
  • Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
  • Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)

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