America


sion — just as they oppose Republi- can efforts to audit state voter rolls — because they want people in govern- ment-run healthcare.


STATE ABUSES Nearly every state games the Med- icaid system to increase its share of federal subsidies. And it’s been going on for years. For example, states may reclassify


some of their Medicaid population claiming they are sicker than they really are, which draws larger federal reimbursements. In addition, 49 states game the


federal matching funds grant. Here’s The New York Times describing how it works: “New Hampshire taxed its hospitals


and returned dollars to them as higher payments for Medicaid patients’ care. On paper, the tax inflated the state’s Medicaid spending, allowing it to col- lect more matching funds from the federal government.” Republicans have been trying to


crack down on these scams, but the states and hospitals always push back, claiming what they’re doing isn’t illegal and they need the addi- tional money. The OBBB imposes more restric-


tions to try and minimize these prac- tices, but it also provides a $50 billion hospital stabilization fund over five years to offset hospital losses.


FIGHT’S NOT OVER Republicans decided not to include some long-embraced conservative reforms, like block-granting federal money to the states, which would have eliminated state gaming. If implemented as envisioned, the


OBBB will reduce the Medicaid popu- lation, slow the explosive growth rate in Medicaid spending, and return it to its original purpose: providing health coverage to the poor and disabled. That’s how to save Medicaid for the


future. But Republicans will have to remain vigilant. Democrats and bureaucrats at


16 NEWSMAX | SEPTEMBER 2025


House Dems Take Credit for Law


are popular with voters. BY ADAM PACK


D


emocrat lawmakers decried it as the


“Big, Ugly Bill,” but some members of the minority party are beginning to take credit for various provisions within President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Communities across


the country stand to gain billions of dollars in federal funding from the president’s sweeping tax relief and immigration law that Trump signed on July 4.


Though House


Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries has argued the bill will cost Republicans control of the lower chamber during the midterms, some members of his conference are quietly signaling that some provisions within the bill are popular with voters. “House Democrats


voted against the largest tax cuts in generations, historic border security, and safer communities — then tried to take a victory lap because they’ve got nothing else to run on,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “That’s like lighting a house on fire and taking


credit when the fire department shows up.” Democrat Kansas Rep.


Sharice Davids praised new federal dollars for her Kansas City area district to help finance the security costs of hosting six matches for the 2026 World Cup. “Just announced: New


federal funding is headed our way to boost public safety ahead of next year’s World Cup!” Davids posted on the social media platform X. The four-term


lawmaker did not mention the legislative vehicle that secured the funding — the president’s “big, beautiful” law — which she voted against. Davids referred to the legislation as an “extreme budget [that] hurts everyone who isn’t already a billionaire,” in a statement the day of her “no” vote. Democrat Missouri


Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, another Kansas City area congressman, has also claimed responsibility for delivering the federal dollars within Trump’s sweeping bill. “I’m very happy that we


were able to secure $625 million to support security efforts in the 11 host cities, including Kansas City,”


the federal and state levels will work to dilute or eliminate these changes — just as they did in the 1996 welfare reform legislation. Passing the OBBB didn’t win the


They Voted Against They admit provisions in the bill


Cleaver said in a joint statement with Davids on July 11. Just eight days prior,


he argued the legislation was “morally reprehensible and supremely sinful,” in a statement opposing the bill’s passage. Democrat Missouri


Rep. Wesley Bell has also cheered a provision within Trump’s signature bill despite arguing the budget package will be “cruel” and “devastating” for his constituents during debate over the bill’s passage. The St. Louis area


Democrat has praised the reauthorization and largest expansion to date of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) within Republicans’ budget package.


The legislation would


allow Americans living in certain zip codes, including those in Bell’s district, to be eligible for compensation if exposed to nuclear waste. It was a notable


departure from his blistering statement on the day of the bill’s passage, which did not mention the RECA expansion. “What happened on the House floor today will go down as one of the darkest votes in modern American history,” Bell wrote. “The truth is, most people still don’t realize how devastating this will be.” — Daily Caller News Foundation


war; it’s just getting started.


Merrill Matthews is a public policy and political analyst and the coauthor of On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff. Follow him on X@MerrillMatthews.


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