Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is calling for Republican leadership to remove a part of the "one big beautiful bill" that alters a Medicaid financing provision, Politico reported.
In a version proposed by the Senate Finance Committee, the budget bill would cut the amount of money a state can tax a healthcare provider from 6% of patient revenue to 3.5%. The cut would apply only to states that have expanded Medicaid offerings under the Affordable Care Act and would exempt nursing homes, Politico reported.
The bill would freeze nonexpansion states' provider tax rates in place, while the bill passed by the House had no cuts and installed the freeze to every state, Politico said.
Hawley said he's heard from House Republicans that the measure wouldn't pass the lower chamber.
"I don't know why we would pass something that the House can't pass and will force us into [a] conference," Hawley told Politico.
Hawley said House Republicans told him, "we cannot pass this. We were not consulted."
"Unless you want to be here in August and September still doing this, I think that is a bad, bad plan," Hawley told Politico. We don't have time to reinvent the wheel."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hopes to pass the bill by July 4, with the bill on the floor as soon as Wednesday.
Hawley said he would be willing to support the House provider tax freeze, provided that minor clarifications requested by hospital associations in 13 states, including Missouri, have asked for, Politico reported.
Senate Republican leadership is considering establishing a fund for rural hospitals to win over holdouts of the "one big, beautiful bill."
Hawley along with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, have expressed concern about how scaling back the Medicaid provider tax could harm rural hospitals in their states.
"They cannot defund rural hospitals," Hawley told Politico.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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