Medicaid cuts under “Big Beautiful Bill” could cost Oklahomans healthcare coverage

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahomans could see quite the shake up to their Medicaid coverage as the outwardly labeled “Big Beautiful Bill” works through Congress. It passed the House by a narrow vote and experts estimate millions of Americans might lose their healthcare, including well over 100,000 Oklahomans.

“The House has passed generational truly nation shaping legislation,” House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said after the bills passed the House.

The sweeping package sailing through Congress passed by a vote of 215-214 after hours of negotiations and holdouts. Republicans championed the move.

"Reduce spending and permanently lower taxes for families and job creators, secure the border, unleash American energy dominance, restore peace through strength and make government work more efficiently,” Johnson said.

Recent Congressional Budget Office analysis said it will add trillions to the federal debt. The bill also includes cuts to Medicaid.

"This bill, if it were enacted, would force about 15 million people off of healthcare coverage,” Families USA policy analyzer Sophia Tripoli said.

Sophia Tripoli is the senior director of health policy at the national nonpartisan policy analysis organization. She said one in four Oklahomans rely on Medicaid.

"That's more than a half million children and just shy of a half million adults,” Tripoli said.

Oklahoma passed Medicaid expansion in 2020 through a statewide vote. Despite that, around 175,000 people could lose their coverage under the bill, according to Tripoli. Health policy group KFF said 64% of adults on Medicaid in Oklahoma work. 

However, Tripoli mentions work requirements, freezing state mechanisms to generate revenue for Medicaid programs and re-application as issues under the bill as well.

"These are just bureaucratic red tape that are being put in place,” Tripoli said. "The result is all the same forcing folks off coverage, increasing health care costs for Oklahomans and the American people."

The bill now heads to the Senate where Republicans also have the majority. We reached out to all five of Oklahoma’s House delegates in Washington for specific comments on the Medicaid cuts. We heard back from Rep. Stephanie Bice’s office who only referred us to her original statement on the bills passing that you can read below.

The One Big Beautiful Bill is an opportunity to extend tax relief for Oklahomans, preventing them from facing a nearly $1200 tax hike next year. This legislation supports families, finishes President Trump’s border wall, and provides additional resources to further secure and safeguard our nation. While this process has been long, I appreciate all the thoughtful debate and will continue engaging with my colleagues as we move forward.

The legislation will:  Keep the Border Secure- Make the largest investment in border security in a generation; finish the border wall; and give our border patrol agents and immigration enforcement agencies the resources they need to detain and deport illegal aliens. Grow Our Economy & Cut Taxes- Prevent the largest tax increase in American history; eliminate taxes on tips and overtime; provide tax relief for seniors, job creators, small businesses, and farmers Make Our Government More Efficient- Reduce the size and scope of government; root out waste, fraud, and abuse; bring bloated and inefficient programs back to their initial intent; and enact historic savings to put our nation on a sound fiscal trajectory  Restore America’s Energy Dominance- Empower American energy producers; dismantle burdensome Green New Deal regulations; reform the permitting process; and boost our energy security

U.S. Representative Stephanie Bice

Reps. Kevin Hern, and Frank Lucas also released original statements when the bill passed. Those can all be read below.

President Trump and the American people gave us a clear mandate; today we delivered. While Democrats have been demagoguing and fearmongering, spreading lies about what this legislation does or doesn’t do, Republicans have been working hard to deliver real relief to working families and small businesses. I am proud of the work we did on this legislation, and I look forward to seeing it signed into law.

 U.S. Representative Kevin Hern

Passing the House Republicans' reconciliation package was not just a follow through on our promise to advance President Trump's agenda, it was also necessary for Oklahoma. Included in this bill are key provisions that our cherished agriculture industry depends on, such as expanding the farm safety net and investing in critical programs. This historic piece of legislation also secures vital funding for the FAA Academy in OKC and prevents a disastrous tax hike on Oklahomans. Failing to pass this bill would have been negligent for Oklahoma and for the entire country.

U.S. Representative Frank Lucas

Rep. Tom Cole released the statement below in reference to Medicaid on Tuesday.

Throughout the past five months of the Trump Administration, Democrats and Far-Left media outlets have engaged in dishonest fearmongering, misrepresenting the Republican Reconciliation bill and spreading the untrue claim that Republicans are gutting Medicaid. But the American people deserve to know the truth - and the truth is that Republicans are working to strengthen Medicaid for those who need it.

We know that Medicaid is an essential program that enriches the lives of so many Americans. It was designed to serve vulnerable families and individuals, including children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities. Yet, in recent years, Medicaid has been expanded too much, risking the complete collapse of the program and therefore threatening the healthcare access of the people this program is truly intended to help.

The previous administration only exacerbated this problem. President Biden removed the fraud protections that had been put in place on Medicaid enrollment, making it difficult for states to remove ineligible people from the program and allowing able-bodied adults with the capability to work to take resources from those who the program was designed to serve. In fact, Medicaid currently spends seven times more on capable yet unemployed adults with no dependents than it does on eligible vulnerable populations who can’t work. These Biden Administration Medicaid expansions not only undermine the true purpose of the program but also will cost $172 billion over the next ten years.

So, now, as a result of the extreme actions of the Left that have endangered healthcare access for those who are truly eligible, Republicans are having to reverse the damage.

However, I want to be very clear – we are not cutting Medicaid. In fact, saving Medicaid is what my colleagues and I are trying to do.

The Republican Reconciliation bill will strengthen, secure, and sustain Medicaid. It requires citizenship verification and more frequent eligibility checks in order to ensure illegal immigrants and ineligible beneficiaries are not able to receive Medicaid. The bill establishes a work requirement for able-bodied adults with no dependents or elderly parents in their care, just like other programs like SNAP and TANF require, and prohibits Medicaid from funding “gender reassignment” surgery for children.

Put simply: this bill is common sense, as it just reestablishes Medicaid as a program that provides vital healthcare to the most vulnerable Americans and stops the subsidization of competent adults who are just choosing to not work. So, in conclusion, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and protect the life-saving services that vulnerable Americans rely on.

U.S. Representative Tom Cole

We have not yet heard from Rep. Josh Brecheen’s office.