Healey: GOP budget cuts could leave 2M without health care

Photo I Courtesy of State House News Service Gov. Maura Healey speaks to reporters at the Westin Copley Place on Wednesday.

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By Alison Kuznitz

Gov. Maura Healey said the tax breaks that U.S. House Republicans envision in the budget blueprint approved Tuesday night could "devastate" a slew of government programs, and that nearly 2 million Bay Staters are at risk of losing health care coverage under GOP plans for Medicaid.

Healey, asked Wednesday whether Democrats should threaten a government shutdown to resist Republican-led policies, said, "Democrats should be using every tool at their disposal." The House budget resolution still needs to be hashed out in committees and in Senate negotiations before Congress votes on a final version.

"I mean, I don't know how much worse it needs to get," Healey told reporters after she spoke at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce forum at the Westin Copley Place. "The $4.5 trillion tax cuts proposed by House Republicans are going to devastate -- are going to devastate so many people, are going to wipe out so many programs, and are going to have a far-reaching impact, not just on the people who are going to lose their health care, who are going to lose their food programs, their housing."

Healey urged residents to speak up and use every tool they can to "stop bad things from happening to hundreds of millions of Americans" and to "stop bad things from happening like these tax cuts, which are just a way to funnel a whole lot of money to people who are at the very, very top."

The budget resolution would extend expiring tax cuts from Trump's first administration, which would total $4.5 trillion. The resolution could also translate into $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, as Republicans look to rein in "unsustainable spending" while trying to ensure coverage is reaching the most vulnerable residents.

Republican leaders say their budget would grow the economy by $2.6 trillion over the next decade, save $829 billion in "discretionary spending," extend Trump's "signature tax cuts," and boost funding for border security and national defense.

"Today, House Republicans moved Congress closer to delivering on President Trump's full America First agenda — not just parts of it," House Republican leaders said in a statement Tuesday. "While there is still much more to do, we are determined to send a bill to President Trump's desk that secures our border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, restores American energy dominance, strengthens America's standing on the world stage, and makes government work more effectively for all Americans."

As Healey sees it, the tax cuts would "continue to hammer consumers," who she said are facing inflation that's driving down their purchasing power.

Healey urged Trump to focus on addressing rising costs, including egg prices that she noted have gone up since the president returned to the White House. Meanwhile, Trump's agriculture secretary on Wednesday outlined the administration's plan to tackle bird flu and invest $1 billion into the "crisis," which is expected to "make eggs affordable again," the White House said.

Healey said her team examined the the budget resolution.

"We took a look at it as a team, just so you know, if that were to be passed, in our state alone, 2 million residents, including 700,000 children and 200,000 seniors, would lose health care," she said.

Healey's fiscal 2026 budget included more than $16 billion in federal revenue, with the bulk tied to Medicaid.

"Health care costs would double for more than 300,000 residents who use the Health Connector marketplace, and 1.2 million kids and families who rely on food assistance would have that taken away at a time when grocery prices are high and only getting higher," Healey said at the chamber event. "So these kinds of cuts are immense. They're going to cause unnecessary suffering."

Addressing 700 business leaders, Healey asked, "Who do you think's going to pay for that?"

"What's going to happen to health care premiums? What's going to happen to our health care system, health plans, and all the workers and businesses who depend on that when that federal funding goes away?" the governor continued.

As she later voiced her frustration to reporters, Healey warned taxpayers and businesses will now "lose," particularly if they are forced to absorb the cost burden of the potential loss of federal funding.

"Again, this doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense economically," Healey said.

As the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee dove into the budget resolution on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal invoked recent polling that found more than 80% of Americans "find it unacceptable to gut Medicaid to pay for billionaire giveaways." Most of those people are Trump supporters, the congressman said.

"You'd think all this outcry would give our colleagues some pause. But you'd be wrong," Neal said. "Instead, Republicans are doubling down on ignoring the American people's fears by pursuing an agenda that could cut Medicaid by $880 billion and SNAP by $230 billion, while at the same time handing out a $1.1 trillion giveaway to those making over $743,000. The richest 1 percent."