Medicare cited as a potential target in Trump tax bill

Senate Republicans are said to be eyeing potential funding cuts to Medicare, a government-backed health insurance program mainly for seniors, as they race to pass President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending bill, multiple media outlets reported Thursday.

As the lower house of the U.S. Congress narrowly cleared the legislative package dubbed “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill” last month, House Republicans largely avoided touching the program to pay for massive tax cuts proposed in the bill.

Instead, Medicaid, a healthcare program jointly funded by the government and states, was their target as they passed their version of the bill, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, could leave nearly 11M Americans without insurance by 2034.

“I think the focus, as you know, has been on addressing waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid,” Politico reported, quoting Senate Majority Leader John Thune as saying on Thursday.

“But right now we’re open to suggestions if people have them about other areas where there is clearly waste, fraud, and abuse that can be rooted out in any government program,” Thune added.

However, citing people familiar with the debate, Bloomberg News reported that Senate Republicans are not yet fully onboard with plans to bring changes to privately run Medicare Advantage plans, which could potentially lead to funding cuts for companies operating in that market.

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