Senate Republicans on Wednesday discussed the need to cut out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare to achieve more deficit reduction in President Trump’s landmark bill to extend the 2017 tax cuts, provide new tax relief, secure the border and boost defense spending.
The House-passed bill would cut more than $800 billion from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but some GOP lawmakers argue that other mandatory spending programs, such as Medicare, should also be reviewed for “waste” to further reduce the cost of the bill.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told reporters after the meeting that there is “a legitimate debate” within the Senate Republican Conference about whether bigger cuts can be made to federal Medicaid spending and whether federal Medicare spending needs to be reviewed as well.
“There’s a legitimate debate about, ‘Can we do more with Medicaid? Are we doing too much with Medicaid? How much waste, fraud and abuse is there in Medicare? Why don’t we go after that?’ I think we should,” Cramer said after meeting with colleagues to discuss changes to the House-passed bill to enact Trump’s agenda.
“Some people are afraid of the topics. I’m not,” Cramer said. “In my view, this is our moment as Republicans in control of all three branches, and we ought to be going after more fiscal responsibility.”
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has more here.
