00:00The halls of Congress are buzzing as a massive budget reconciliation package.
00:04A legislative wish list echoing President Donald Trump's priorities moves through the Senate.
00:10At its heart, this bill aims to make key 2017 tax cuts permanent,
00:14a move that comes with an enormous price tag.
00:17To offset this, Senate committees are proposing even deeper cuts than the House,
00:21with Medicaid and SNAP taking center stage.
00:24One of the most significant shifts is in Medicaid.
00:26The Senate version proposes to drastically limit how much states can tax Medicaid providers,
00:32reducing the House S proposed cap from 6% to a mere 3.5% by 2031.
00:39This is a game-changer for states,
00:41as these provider taxes are crucial for drawing down federal Medicaid funding.
00:46Senator Susan Collins of Maine has voiced serious concerns,
00:49warning of a devastating effect on rural hospitals in her state,
00:53potentially leading to closures.
00:54She's pushing for a provider relief fund to protect these vital institutions.
01:00Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri echoes these concerns,
01:03criticizing the bill for cutting off a major funding source for rural hospitals.
01:07He states,
01:08The right thing to do is not defund rural hospitals to pay for your pet projects,
01:13highlighting a broader debate about funding priorities.
01:16While the Senate's bill softens some new Medicaid work requirements,
01:19exempting enrollees with dependents under 14, concerns about implementation remain.
01:25Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, whose state doesn't use provider taxes,
01:30worries that kicking people off Medicaid due to new work requirements
01:33would still hurt small and rural hospitals, calling the implementation unwieldy.
01:39The overarching concern among some Republican senators
01:42is that the Senate bill could shift too much of Medicaid,
01:45S costs, onto the states and lower-income Americans.
01:48This budget battle is far from over,
01:51with negotiations intensifying as President Trump's July 4th deadline looms,
01:56and the ultimate fate of these crucial programs hangs in the balance.
01:59Money expo.
02:00Money expo.
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