While Mike Johnson babbles about “protecting” Medicaid, his GOP budget framework aims to strip healthcare from millions of struggling Americans in his own backyard.
At a Glance
- House Speaker Johnson claims Republicans want to protect entitlements while pushing for nearly $900 billion in cuts through the Energy and Commerce Committee
- Johnson’s own Louisiana district has 290,000 Medicaid recipients (38% of population) who could lose access to healthcare
- Rural hospitals and community health centers face closure if Medicaid funding is slashed
- Johnson’s doublespeak focuses on removing “ineligible” recipients while ignoring that most Medicaid recipients are working poor, disabled, or elderly
- Democrats preparing to hammer Republicans on healthcare cuts during 2026 midterms
Johnson’s Medicaid Shell Game
Here’s a riddle for you: How does a politician cut Medicaid without admitting he’s cutting Medicaid? Just ask House Speaker Mike Johnson, who’s performing political gymnastics that would make an Olympic contender jealous. With a straight face, Johnson claims Republicans will “protect” entitlement programs while simultaneously directing the House Energy and Commerce Committee to slash $880 billion in spending. Guess what falls under that committee? You got it – Medicaid.
“We’re going to protect Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, for people who are legally beneficiaries of those programs,” Johnson told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Notice the careful wording there? Johnson added that the government must “eliminate people on Medicaid” who are not “eligible to be there.” This is the classic Washington two-step – claim you’re protecting a program while simultaneously gutting it. It’s like saying you’re protecting forests while handing out chainsaws.
Cutting Healthcare in His Own Backyard
The most stunning example of Johnson’s hypocrisy? The damage these cuts would inflict on his own constituents. Nearly 290,000 people in Johnson’s Louisiana district rely on Medicaid – that’s a whopping 38% of the population. Louisiana has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, with 32% of residents enrolled in Medicaid. These aren’t “welfare queens” – they’re working families, disabled individuals, and vulnerable seniors who can’t afford private insurance.
“I just hope that the people who are making these decisions have thought deeply about it and have some context of the real-world implications, because it’s going to affect us as a hospital and going to affect our patients.” – Todd Eppler.
Desoto Regional Health System in Johnson’s district depends heavily on Medicaid funding to keep its doors open. Rural hospitals across America are already on life support, with over 150 closing since 2005. Johnson’s proposed cuts would be the final nail in the coffin for many facilities serving areas where the nearest alternative might be an hour’s drive away. But hey, who needs emergency care when you’ve got fiscal responsibility, right?
The Myth of the “Ineligible” Recipient
Johnson’s talking point about removing “ineligible” people from Medicaid is a classic conservative misdirection. The reality? Most Medicaid recipients ARE eligible – they’re the working poor who earn too little to afford private insurance but too much to qualify for other assistance. They’re disabled Americans who can’t work full-time. They’re seniors in nursing homes after they’ve exhausted their life savings. And they’re children from struggling families.
“New York House Republicans are doubling down on their dangerous plans to gut Medicaid and put New Yorkers’ health care at risk, all so they can pay for tax breaks for their billionaire donors. New Yorkers want solutions, not reckless cuts that will devastate millions of people across the state – they will hold every New York House Republican accountable for voting for this horrific budget proposal.” – Addison Dick.
What Johnson really means is imposing work requirements on people who are already working but in jobs that don’t provide insurance. Or creating bureaucratic hurdles so complicated that eligible Americans simply give up trying to get coverage. It’s the oldest trick in the book – make the process so painful that people walk away from benefits they legally deserve, then celebrate the “savings.” Meanwhile, emergency rooms fill up with preventable crises, and rural hospitals close their doors forever.
Election Consequences Coming
Democrats are already sharpening their knives for the 2026 midterms, and this Medicaid debacle hands them a gift-wrapped attack line. Healthcare consistently ranks as a top voter concern, and Republicans have yet to learn that Americans don’t want their healthcare taken away. Just ask the ghosts of 2018’s “red wave” that crashed on the shores of pre-existing conditions and Obamacare repeal attempts.
“This is heist on Medicaid, a heist on Medicare recipients, a heist on public health care in order to continue to finance Elon Musk’s defense contracts.” – Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Even some Republicans recognize the political suicide mission Johnson is leading. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and other moderate Republicans have already voiced opposition to cutting benefits for seniors and vulnerable populations. But the Speaker seems determined to march his caucus over the electoral cliff to please the fiscal hawks. Meanwhile, there’s always enough money for tax cuts for billionaires and defense contractors. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
