U.S. President Donald Trump "shows an openness" to work requirements for Medicaid, Jason Smith, chair of the House of Representative Ways and Means Committee, said on Fox News Sunday.
Congressional Republicans are weighing steep cuts to Medicaid in their efforts to piece together a landmark tax-cut bill they hope to enact by July 4.
Medicaid provides healthcare coverage to 83 million low-income people and is jointly funded by the federal government and states.
One option with broad Republican support is to require a minimum work requirement for adult recipients.
"The president has been very clear he does not want to cut benefits for individuals on Medicaid and Medicare. He wants to create efficiencies and reforms. He shows an openness to work requirements," Smith said on Sunday.
Other federal welfare programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, have work requirements for some recipients. Republicans have also floated expanded work requirements for SNAP to shrink agricultural spending in line with the House budget plan.
Most adults on Medicaid work full or part time, and most who do not are full-time caregivers or disabled, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
A federal Medicaid work requirement could lead to as many as 5.2 million adults aged 19 to 55 losing eligibility, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization.
Asked by host Shannon Bream about whether the tax bill would impose higher taxes on high-income individuals, Smith said Republicans’ priority is to provide tax relief for small businesses, working families and farmers.
"There’s no problem to eliminate loopholes that the wealthy have benefited from to make sure that working-class Americans aren’t paying taxes on tips," Smith said.
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