As Senate Majority Leader John Thune tries to get his conference in line for the reconciliation bill, a group of House Republicans is warning that they won’t support the Senate bill over that chamber’s proposed Medicaid cuts.
A group of 16 House Republicans — led by more moderate Rep. David Valadao — sent a letter to Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday suggesting they are prepared to vote against the legislation that comes out of the Senate if it includes a cut to the Medicaid provider tax.
At the moment, the Senate is considering lowering the tax that states can levy on medical providers to 3.5%, effectively shrinking the amount states can use to fund their share of Medicaid programs. The tax cut would disproportionately affect rural hospitals — and these members have grave concerns about that.