Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who will be one of the Democrats’ top political targets in 2026, says she is “concerned” about language in the budget resolution that she fears could result in substantial cuts to Medicaid benefits.
“I’m concerned about the instruction to the House Committee for $880 billion, it’s the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, because I don’t see how you can get to that amount without cutting Medicaid benefits,” Collins told reporters.
“In my state, there are more than 400,000 Mainers that rely on that health care program. Our rural hospitals depend upon it as well, and they are really struggling because of actions and inactions by the state Legislature. So the last thing I want to do is cut Medicaid for vulnerable people who are disabled or seniors who cannot work,” she said.
The Senate budget resolution, which senators will begin considering Thursday, includes language instructing the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to “reduce the deficit by not less than $880 billion” for the period from 2025 to 2034.
While the language, which was drafted by House Republicans, does not specifically call for cuts to Medicaid, which falls under the Energy and Commerce panel’s jurisdiction, policy experts warn that it would be extremely difficult for the committee to achieve its deficit-reduction goal without cutting deeply into Medicaid.
America’s Essential Hospitals, an association of hospitals and medical centers around the country, voiced concern to the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a Feb. 19 letter, saying that finding $880 billion in savings would “largely come from substantial cuts to Medicaid.”
“State Medicaid programs will not be able to sustain cuts of this magnitude without significant changes to their programs that will reduce access and threaten the ability of many essential hospitals and other safety net providers to stay open,” the group wrote.
Other Republican senators have warned they will not support deep cuts to Medicaid, including Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.).
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Moran expressed his concern that many rural hospitals are running on thin financial margins and warned that if they are forced to close, rural communities won’t have access to health care, which could put pressure on people to move away from those areas.