Report: Trump-backed Medicaid cuts to strip health care from 500,000 Michiganders

A Michigan Senate committee released the findings this week—just as the US Senate eyes legislation that would slash hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid.

LANSING—A pair of Michigan Senate committees this week released a new, eight-page report that paints an alarming picture of what President Donald Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts would mean for Michiganders—including the closure of hospitals and clinics, thousands of workers being laid off from their jobs, and 500,000 Michiganders losing their health care coverage.

The timing is deliberate. Republican leaders have signaled they want to vote on a US House-passed budget—dubbed by Trump the “one big, beautiful bill”—as soon as this week. That plan would carve $793 billion out of Medicaid over the next decade, reports show.

Senate negotiators are still hashing out the exact number, but Democrats and many health-care groups expect it to be comparable. And in Michigan, the state Senate is sounding the alarm.

“The benefits Medicaid provides are far more than just numbers on a page, and the cuts being proposed in Washington represent real harm to real people,” said state Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) said in a statement announcing the new statewide analysis. “Their stories remind us of what is at stake for our families, our communities, and the future of our state.” 

What does the report say?

The new report—which was reviewed Tuesday by a joint meeting of the state Senate Health Policy Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of Health and Human Services—lays out, in detail, what’s at stake for Michiganders under the bill:

• Health care coverage is at risk: Nearly 500,000 Michiganders—or about one in five Medicaid enrollees—could lose their insurance altogether, largely because of new paperwork hurdles and eligibility checks that are included in the federal legislation.
• Hospitals would lose stability: Medicaid patients account for about 22% of all Michigan hospital volume, but that figure reaches 40% in rural facilities. The report includes testimony that warns how losing that revenue would force downsizing or outright closures.
• Economic fallout: Proposed cuts to the program threaten the 300,000 health care jobs across Michigan that have been sparked by Medicaid expansion. The report estimates that the funding cuts would “deal a projected $2.9 billion blow” to the state’s economy.

What’s new?

Unlike a more technical analysis that state officials released last month, Tuesday’s report weaves in first-person testimony from Michigan parents, physicians, and clinic directors.

“I never thought I’d be here, but without Medicaid, I don’t know how my children and I would survive,” one mother said. “It only takes one moment for everything to change. Every Michigan family deserves to know that if the worst happens, there’s a safety net there to catch them.”

In the report, Katie O’Neal, a mother from Ypsilanti, also described navigating a complicated maze of “red tape” in order to keep her child insured through the Medicaid—a rebuke to the Republican-led notion that the program is rife with so-called “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

“Losing Medicaid wouldn’t just be a policy change—it would be a catastrophe for my family and so many others. We can’t afford to let that happen,” O’Neal testified at a recent hearing.

Katie O’Neal testifies in a committee hearing. (Michigan Senate Democrats via Facebook)

The report also included testimony from hospital executives, who warned that Medicaid is currently providing over $8.6 billion annually to the mental health system, nursing homes, home- and community-based health services, and emergency care services across Michigan.

The report concludes: “There is no way the state can absorb the loss of funds without making painfully deep cuts. This [federal funding cut to Medicaid] would force state leaders to choose between funding Michiganders’ health care or education, roads, and public safety.”

State Sen. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) called Medicaid “one of the most impactful and efficient programs in our health care system,” adding that Republican-led cuts “would reverse decades of progress” and “make health care a privilege for the few, rather than a right for all.”

“This report highlights what’s truly at stake, not only for Michigan’s budget and our hospitals, but for the health and economic security of families across our state,” she said in a statement. “For millions of Michiganders, access to Medicaid is not a policy debate, it’s a matter of life or death.”   

What’s next?

Republican lawmakers have set a July 4 target to move the budget reconciliation package through the US House and Senate. But in recent weeks, intraparty rifts have widened—with some conservative lawmakers arguing the federal spending cuts still don’t go far enough.

The new state report recommends that Michigan’s congressional delegation “forcefully and unequivocally oppose” any bill that relies on Medicaid cuts to pay for tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. It also urges state lawmakers to keep spotlighting the consequences as the Senate vote nears. Whether that pressure campaign sways votes in DC remains to be seen. 

READ MORE: Michigan hospitals at risk of closing if Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ passes

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