WA's Sen. Murray raises concerns over potential Medicaid cuts, impacts to state budget

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Senator Patty Murray, other Democratic lawmakers and individuals involved with Medicaid say funding is at risk under budget plans from Republicans in Congress. The risk of cuts could complicate the state legislature’s efforts to plug a projected deficit.

What they're saying:

Speaking at the state capitol Monday afternoon, the Democratic senator said Republicans in the U.S. House has "Medicaid in the crosshairs" with the budget resolution they passed in February.

"Explicitly laying the groundwork for legislation later this year that will cut Americans off their healthcare, force our rural hospitals to close doors, and blow a massive hole in state budgets," Murray told reporters.

Over $12.5 billion of federal funding went to Washington for the joint federal and state health care program in 2023, she said. According to state data, over 1.9 million people are enrolled in Washington’s Medicaid program, Apple Health.

The cuts would make health care harder to access, Murray said, with Republicans using them to give tax breaks to billionaires.

"We cannot let Republicans charge ahead on deep and painful cuts to Medicaid, just to line the pockets of the richest people in the world," the senator said.

Congressional Republicans have said they do not want to make cuts to Medicaid, but health policy group KFF reports cuts are the only way to follow the budget blueprint set out by House Republicans last month with Medicare cuts off the table.

Julie Clark, a woman with disabilities who uses a wheelchair and text-to-voice machine, told reporters the caregiving services she gets through Medicaid allow her to have some independence. But that independence would disappear with cuts, forcing her to move from a group home to an institution.

"Everyone deserves to have a quality of life to work and live in their own home in the community," she said. "Please do not make cuts to Medicaid. These cuts would be very harmful to myself and those like me."

Julie Clark

Cuts to Medicaid could have great impacts on state spending, at a time when lawmakers are trying to tackle a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall.

According to a report from the Washington State Standard, House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said federal funding cuts to Medicaid could force legislators into a special session.

"It would rip a hole in the budget and would make it so we’d have to face extremely difficult decisions, like keeping rural hospitals open," state Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, told reporters Monday. "And as those rural hospitals are closed or those services are cut, that pressure again gets put on the urban areas."

Earlier in the afternoon, dozens of people gathered at the capitol to rally for new taxes on wealthy businesses and people as a way to close the state’s budget gap.

Organizers said the ever-changing situation around federal funding underscores the need for new sources of revenue to support vital state services.

"With the uncertainty of medicaid, we can’t see other programs go wayside," said Emma Scalzo, Executive Director of Balance our Tax Code.

"We need to stand up for our health care systems, we need to stand up for our health care providers and really make sure we’re funding the things that we need to in our state."

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