Alliance Alert:The latest report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paints a deeply troubling picture: millions of people could lose their Medicaid coverage under policies currently being considered by congressional Republicans. These proposals—ranging from capping federal contributions to cutting essential enrollment protections—would gut one of the most vital lifelines for people with mental health and substance use challenges.
Some of the options under review would cause up to 8.6 million people to lose coverage. Even policies like enhanced eligibility checks and work requirements, which are often framed as administrative tweaks, would lead to large-scale coverage losses by placing unnecessary barriers in front of individuals and families—many of whom are already working or dealing with severe health challenges.
We must be clear: these are not just budget decisions. These are choices that would endanger the stability, health, and lives of millions across the country. Medicaid is the primary funder of community-based mental health and substance use services. Cutting access to this program means denying support to those who need it most—and pushing more people into crisis.
That’s why the Alliance for Rights and Recovery has launched an action alert system to help community members across the country contact their representatives and urge them to protect Medicaid.
Send your message today:
ACT TODAY
We need Congress to hear from the people who rely on Medicaid—not just lobbyists or political strategists. Let’s protect our health coverage, our services, and our communities.
The Alliance for Rights and Recovery is also proud to announce that we will be joining the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) for their 2025 Hill Days from June 9–12 in Washington, D.C. During this critical time, we’ll be meeting with lawmakers to demand the protection of Medicaid and to advocate for expanded funding for voluntary, community-based mental health and substance use services across the country.
We encourage others to join us for this important advocacy event. With Medicaid under serious threat and millions at risk of losing coverage, it is essential that our voices are heard on Capitol Hill. Together, we can defend access to services and push for programs that are peer-led, recovery-focused, and rooted in dignity.
Participants will stay at the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University, just 1.5 miles from the Capitol. The group rate is $199 per night (no taxes or fees) for June 9, 10, and 11, with the option to extend your stay at the same rate before or after. Sign up by May 9 to secure a room at this discounted rate.
Sign up for Hill Days and Get your Hotel Reservations Here: https://form.jotform.com/250915645842159
We look forward to standing alongside advocates from across the country as we push for federal policies that support recovery, protect rights, and ensure access to the services people truly need.
CBO Keeping Score on Medicaid Cuts
By Sophie Gardner | Politico | May 7, 2025
LOSING HEALTH CARE — Millions of people could lose health coverage under options that congressional Republicans are considering, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the government’s nonpartisan scorekeeper.
The new estimates were requested by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, respectively. The options weighed by the CBO reflect policies Democrats say Republicans would pursue — but not necessarily the exact options they would enact, even if similar, POLITICO’s Ben Leonard reports.
— Details: The CBO estimates a controversial policy that would reduce the federal share of payments in the joint-state federal program in states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act would lead to 5.5 million people losing coverage. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday night that Republicans were no longer considering such a move.
The CBO also estimated that capping federal spending in states that have expanded Medicaid — which Johnson didn’t entirely rule out Tuesday — would lead to 3.3 million people being booted off their coverage.
Repealing a Biden-era rule aimed at lessening barriers to Medicaid enrollment would lead to 2.3 million people losing benefits, per the CBO. And limiting the taxes that states levy on doctors and hospitals to pay for their share of Medicaid expenditures would lead to 8.6 million people losing Medicaid coverage.
— Why it matters: The House E and C Committee must find $880 billion in savings, and GOP leaders are eyeing changes to Medicaid to achieve a large portion of that total amount.
But the new numbers could make some moderate Republicans who had already been hesitant to slash the program substantially even more worried about the potential impact of cuts on their districts (and their reelection campaigns).
Republicans are coalescing around work requirements for beneficiaries, more frequent eligibility checks in the program and a crackdown on coverage for noncitizens. But as they look for more significant savings, divisions have only grown, with hardliners pushing for even steeper cuts and moderates increasingly wary.
House Republicans Nix Controversial Medicaid Proposal as Plan Takes Shape
By Nathaniel Weixel and Mychael Schnell | The Hill | May 6, 2025
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday said one controversial proposal to cut federal Medicaid funding was off the table and another would likely be excluded from the bill containing President Trump’s domestic policy priorities.
Both had been red lines for a number of moderate and vulnerable Republicans, leaving the GOP closer to an agreement on which Medicaid cuts will be included in the final product. Still, lawmakers said Tuesday no final decisions had been made on one of the most hot-button issues facing the far-reaching package.
The forward progress comes after weeks of debate between hard-line conservatives — who want to implement steep cuts to the social safety net program to help reach their spending cut target of at least $1.5 trillion — and moderates, who are wary of making such changes.
Leaving a nearly two-hour meeting with moderates late Tuesday afternoon, Johnson said a controversial plan to directly reduce the enhanced federal match for states that expanded Medicaid, known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), was off the table.
Johnson also said the bill would likely exclude “per capita caps,” which would throttle federal funding without technically changing benefits. While some moderates in recent days said they could support the policy, others have pushed back at what would be a massive cost shift to states.
“I think we’re ruling that out as well, but stay tuned,” Johnson told reporters after the meeting.
Beyond the two hot-button ideas, lawmakers said the contours of the plan are beginning to take shape, including eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse”; instituting federal work requirements; excluding noncitizens from eligibility; and letting states make eligibility checks more frequently, likely every six months instead of once a year — a group of relatively noncontroversial policies for Republicans that were largely already agreed upon.
Still, centrists and swing-district Republicans expressed optimism about the path ahead — even as they acknowledged the thorniest issues have yet to be resolved.
“I think we’re going on a good pathway to make sure that, again, we don’t cut Medicaid to any eligible individual human being or to any facility,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told reporters.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said Johnson has a blueprint “that’s workable,” but he noted that “there’s a few wrinkles that need to be worked out.”
“But I think he’s on a good path,” Newhouse added.
But in a sign of the tenuous negotiations, some hard-line Republicans are already sounding off on the emerging proposal.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said of the FMAP and per-capita caps news: “Well — I haven’t ruled it out.”
“It’s necessary to stop robbing from the vulnerable to fund the able-bodied,” he added in a post on the social platform X.
The movement on potential Medicaid changes comes as House Republicans are looking to move the bill full of President Trump’s legislative priorities through the chamber by Memorial Day, an ambitious timeline that is on thin ice amid a host of key policy disagreements — including those surrounding Medicaid.
The hang-ups prompted the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, to delay its plan to hold a meeting to advance its part of the package this week. The panel is now looking to hold the key vote next week.
The legislation calls for the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in savings over a decade, with most of it expected to come from health programs.
While some lawmakers touted progress on Tuesday, others pumped the brakes.
“I think this was a listening session for … different menu items. Again, if they had a actual set of proposals, I think you would see them at this point,” Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) said.