The three largest Catholic organizations in the United States sent a letter to congressional leaders this week regarding Medicaid, saying it’s “vital” that programs like it “are protected and strengthened for the most vulnerable in our society.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities sent the letter Thursday to House and Senate leaders, including the respective majority leaders, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-S.C., asserting that “healthcare is a fundamental necessity.”
The letter comes amid fearmongering from Democrats that Republicans are looking to cut Medicaid benefits, despite both President Donald Trump and Johnson assuring that cuts are not part of the equation as offsets to the reconciliation bill. Finding and cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse will happen, both have said, but not benefits to eligible recipients.
Regardless, the Catholic groups wrote, “As you begin considerations for a Budget Reconciliation package, it is vital that social safety net programs like Medicaid are protected and strengthened for the most vulnerable in our society.”
They added, “As you address reconciliation priorities, we urge you to prioritize those most in need and working families and protect the Medicaid program.”
Johnson on Thursday said there's a lot of talk about cutting into Medicaid but no substance. "That is not part of this equation. We’re talking about finding efficiencies in every program but not cutting benefits for people who rightly deserve that," he said.
Trump on Wednesday vowed he’s “not going to touch” Medicaid but asserted "We are going to look for fraud."
To that end, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., told Newsmax on Thursday that 60% of the people on Medicaid are not eligible."
"But no one is going to lose their Medicaid if they are legitimately qualified for that. So the fearmongering that the other side, the Democrats are doing, is unfounded," she said.
Harshbarger added that she’s in favor of work requirements on those who are "able-bodied."
"If you've got able-bodied people on Medicaid that probably shouldn't be on there, all we're asking is you work like 20 hours a week," Harshbarger said. "The significance in what that will cut — $100 billion just in that alone — if you implement work requirements on these people that are able-bodied; it's not intended for the disabled, the elderly or pregnant women."
The Catholic groups, however, pushed back on work requirements as “artificial barriers.”
“Furthermore, policies like work reporting requirements have shown clear evidence of creating artificial barriers to care, generating paper work and bureaucracy while doing little to support people looking for work. These requirements also fail to recognize that most people on Medicaid already work and ignore the realities of low-wage work, caregiving responsibilities, and health limitations, and studies have shown they frequently result in loss of coverage for eligible individuals, including children,” the groups wrote.