COVINGTON, Ky. — President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" has made it through the U.S. Senate after a vote on Tuesday. If the bill passes the House, it will head to the Oval Office to be signed into law.
As WCPO 9 has previously reported, the bill includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, extending reductions first passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term.
Billions of dollars will go toward immigration and border security.
What has some Kentuckians worried is a potential $1 trillion in cuts to federal Medicaid spending.
Supporters maintain the bill only targets fraud and waste in the Medicaid program, but health advocates from Kentucky Voices for Health and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy soke about the possible impact during a press conference Wednesday.
Hear from advocates who warn about the implications of Medicaid cuts for Kentuckians:
Kentucky Voices for Health Executive Director Emily Beauregard said the bill's tax cut pales in comparison to what will happen to health care in the state.
"Any tax benefit the average person gets will pale in comparison to the medical debt and the loss of health care everyday Kentuckians experience," Beauregard said.
Also present at the press conference was Angela Rowe, a Kentuckian who relies on Medicaid for her family's care.
"This isn’t just a policy, it’s personal," said Rowe.
Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said Kentucky "stands to lose more than any other state in the country" if the bill is passed.
Kentucky Voices for Health listed specific data points from experts on how Medicaid cuts could impact the Bluegrass State:
- Potential loss of as much as $28 billion in federal Medicaid funds to Kentucky over the next decade.
- Risk of 35 rural hospital closures, the highest number of any state.
- Coverage loss for more than 250,000 Kentuckians, including children, seniors, and people in recovery.
- No plans or solutions to adequately backfill these losses.
Kentucky's two Republican senators, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, had split decisions on the bill during Tuesday's vote.
Paul voted against the bill, citing concerns about an increase in the nation's debt.
McConnell voted for the bill and wrote a statement that read in part, "We’re bolstering border security, investing in programs that assist our farmers, raising take-home pay for working Kentuckians, and preventing the largest tax hike in American history."
I received this information from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services:
More than 1.4 million Kentuckians are enrolled in Medicaid – including half of all children in our state – and the proposed federal cuts to the program would be devastating. In addition to throwing nearly 200,000 of our people off their health care coverage, the decision to see these cuts through would cause 20,000 health care workers to lose their jobs, likely close 35 rural hospitals, hammer our economy and potentially stop the progress we’ve seen in decreasing overdose deaths, colorectal deaths and other health-related milestones.
I was able to speak on the phone with Garren Colvin, President and CEO of St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Colvin told me 24% of St. Elizabeth's business is from Medicaid-enrolled patients.
"As it stands today, with the Senate's version, we're looking at ... this would be a 10% cut over 10 years, starting in October of 2027. But once that 10-year timeline is up, in the 10th year and final year, it would have about a $130 million negative impact on our system," Colvin said.
Colvin told me he was in favor of the initial draft in the House but is worried about the repercussions for his team and patients if the Senate's updated legislation becomes law.
"If you're going to have significant cuts to the health care reimbursement, it's really going to trickle down to the entire state," Colvin said.
Colvin said he and others in Kentucky health care have had conversations with lawmakers about the legislation. His hope is that the House's initial bill is the one that finds its way to Trump's desk.
"Now we’re asking the House to stay close to what they originally filed because it was meaningful, it was impactful," Colvin said.
You can see a breakdown of Kentucky's Medicaid enrollment here:
Medicaid enrollment across Kentucky by webeditors
