Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said anyone who loses access to Medicaid because of the “big, beautiful bill” wasn’t supposed to have it in the first place.
“Every district in America has people who are on the program who shouldn’t,” Johnson told Jake Tapper on Sunday’s episode of “State of the Union.”
He continued: “We are the party that supports human dignity and we find purpose in dignity and our work. It’s good for the individuals involved. It’s good for their community. It’s good for society at large.”
According to a May report from the Congressional Budget Office, about 8 million people will lose access to Medicaid if Congress passes what President Donald Trump calls the “big, beautiful bill.” The bill aims to save $715 billion on federal health spending over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The bill strips federal funds from states that use Medicaid for undocumented immigrants, adds work requirements to able-bodied adults without children, and bans Medicaid from being used for gender transition services for adults and children.
On Thursday, Trump celebrated the bill passing the House on Truth Social, writing, “THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL” has PASSED the House of Representatives! This is arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country!”
Johnson told Tapper that the bill will not cut Medicaid.
“The numbers of Americans who are affected are those that are entwined in our work to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse,” Johnson said on CNN.
He continued, saying that 1.4 million “illegal aliens” are on Medicaid, even though it’s not intended for them. (Undocumented immigrants have to meet certain requirements to be on Medicaid.)
“It’s intended for the most vulnerable populations of Americans, which is pregnant women and young single mothers, the disabled, the elderly,” Johnson said. “They are protected in what we’re doing because we’re preserving the resources for those who need it most.”
“The morality of what we’re doing here is precisely right and it comports with all the public opinion polls.”
