OLYMPIA — Billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid would have a devastating impact on the more than 1.8 million Washingtonians who rely on the program, particularly in rural and Eastern Washington, Sen. Patty Murray said during a news conference at the state Capitol Monday.
Murray said Republicans are waging an “all-out assault” on a program that provides health coverage for the elderly, those with disabilities and those in lower income levels, as they seek to pass tax cuts for billionaires.
“The bottom line is that for Republicans, if there is a choice between helping working people and helping their billionaire buddies, they’re going to side with the billionaires,” Murray said. “That’s why we’re here today, to raise the alarm.”
In a statement last week, the White House said, “The Trump Administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits,” and cited several comments the president has made in recent months where he vowed to weed out fraud while protecting the program.
“Social Security won’t be touched, other than if there’s fraud or something. It’s going to be strengthened. Medicare, Medicaid — none of that stuff is going to be touched,” President Donald Trump said during a Feb. 18 interview with Sean Hannity. “Now, if there are illegal migrants in the system, we’re going to get them out.”
Joining Murray at the Capitol was state Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane; Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton; and health care professionals, all of whom voiced concerns about what cutting the program would mean to the state.
“These cuts will make my job, and that of my colleagues, even more difficult,” said Justin Gill, president of the Washington State Nurses Association. “We’ll struggle to coordinate care, secure medications, and order necessary tests and diagnostics for our patients. The burden of navigating an already complex system will only grow, further contributing to burnout and workforce shortages.”
The comments come after Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a budget resolution last month that directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion in spending over the next 10 years. While the budget resolution does not specifically call for the cuts to be made to Medicaid, many, including Murray, say it would be impossible for the committee to meet the reduced spending levels without slashing funding for the program.
“You can bet that back in the other Washington, I will be fighting every way I can to protect people’s health care, lift up the voices of families here in Washington state, and make sure at the very least, our Republican colleagues hear from their constituents that they are so determined to hurt,” Murray said.
Murray said the resolution puts Medicaid “in the crosshairs, explicitly laying the groundwork for legislation later this year that will kick Americans off of their health care.”
In her remarks, Randall said claims of fraud and abuse in Medicaid are overstated, with 30 to 40 verifiable claims of fraud out of the two million payments the Washington Healthcare Authority disperses each year.
“It’s a program that is secure, it is efficient, it is effective, and delivers lifesaving care to people, real people, across the country,” she said.
According to Murray, Washington received more than $12.5 billion in funding for Medicaid in fiscal year 2023, which accounted for 57% of the total federal funds the state received.
The program, Murray said, provides coverage for one in five people in the state. According to Riccelli, more than a third of Spokane County residents are enrolled in Medicaid.
“Make no mistake, Medicaid saves lives,” Murray said. “And do you know where it saves lives the most? Rural and red communities.”
While she didn’t explicitly name the lawmakers, Murray said Washington’s fourth and fifth Congressional districts — which are represented by Republican Reps. Dan Newhouse and Michael Baumgartner — have the highest proportions of residents enrolled in the program.
“Those are the places that are going to really get hit hardest if Republicans succeed in their plan to dramatically slash Medicaid,” Murray said.
Riccelli, who worked with Baumgartner in the Washington Legislature to help Washington State University open a medical school in Spokane, singled out the first-term Republican.
“Where are these clinicians going to go and provide care if we cut access?” Riccelli said.
Spokespeople for Baumgartner and Newhouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon.
During a town hall Monday morning in Ritzville, Baumgartner said Medicaid is in serious need of reform, but that fixing it is more about slowing the rate of growth — not cutting spending.
“Total Medicaid spending will still go up,” he said. “It won’t go up at some of the rates that folks may like, but Medicaid is fundamentally a broken system right now.”
Baumgartner added that it was his “hope that there are things like work requirements to put those dollars to use.”
The potential cuts, Murray said, would result in hospital closures in rural areas, a loss in coverage, longer wait times and a lack of services for those who struggle with either substance abuse or mental health.
As the state looks to close a roughly $12 billion budget deficit over the next four years, Riccelli said the state government would struggle to handle an increased caseload caused by the cuts.
“It would rip a hole in the budget and would make it so we have to face extremely difficult decisions, like keeping rural hospitals open,” he said. “And as those rural hospitals close, and those services are cut, that pressure gets put on the urban areas, including my district. It’s all connected.”
Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, told reporters on March 5 that should Congress opt to make cuts to Medicaid, “everywhere in the country, including Washington, would be in completely uncharted territory.”
“What happens to our rural hospitals, should they do that, is again just something that is not, no state can plan for, no state can fund,” Jinkins said on March 5. She said the Legislature is on schedule to finish its work for the year on time, but that would change if Medicaid is cut.
“Should that happen, I don’t know, I really don’t know where we’ll be.”
