Margot Sanger-Katz

How the G.O.P. Bill Saves Money: Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork

How the GOP mega-bill bill finds its savings: piling more paperwork on the poor.

w/ @sangerkatz.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/u...

Trump’s Big Bill Would Be More Regressive Than Any Major Law in Decades (Gift Article) Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, released Thursday, offer a detailed view into the effects on income groups.

Big tax cut bills typically don't leave the poor worse off. Bills cutting the safety net don't normally include benefits for the rich.

The GOP reconciliation bill is something we haven't really seen before. w/ @aliciaparlap.bsky.social + @sangerkatz.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A Complete List of Everything in the Republican Bill, and How Much It Would Cost or Save

(This very long list is now updated with Congressional Budget Office estimates)

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.

A bunch of papers cited in the government MAHA report are apparently fake. www.notus.org/health-scien... ‪@emilykennard.bsky.social‬ @margaretmanto.bsky.social‬

Easily one of my favorite stories we've ever worked on.

Have you ever... not gotten around to opening your mail for a week or two? That's the kind of thing that will get a low-income family kicked off benefits. The GOP reconciliation bill would ramp up such hurdles.

Take the Quiz: Could You Manage as a Poor American? (Published 2020) See whether you make the kinds of mistakes that can cost poor families food or health insurance.

If you want to think more about how paperwork can prevent eligible people from getting benefits, this piece 2020 piece with @emmbadger.bsky.social has a fun quiz, a large survey, and lots of research, and features photos of our boss's mail. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A Complete List of Everything in the Republican Bill, and How Much It Would Cost or Save We highlighted the substantive changes made by House Republicans to secure the support of several holdout members.

Here's a complete list of *everything* in the GOP megabill, thanks to heroic efforts from @aliciaparlap.bsky.social @emmbadger.bsky.social and Josh Katz. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

NEW: Under Trump, the National Science Foundation is awarding grants at the slowest pace in decades. We took a detailed look at every area of science affected by the funding lag. Here's a gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Republicans Pass Strictest Medicaid Work Requirement They Have Ever Put Forward

The Medicaid work requirement in the House bill is a lot stricter than work requirements in previous legislation. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u... with Sarah Kliff

If House Manager Amendment ending #Silverload is signed into law I expect numerous insurers to leave the ACA market in 2026... Pay particular attention to Texas

If a non-expansion state newly adopts expansion, hospitals/other providers see those SDPs at 110% of Medicare fall to 100%. Creates another disincentive for states to take up expansion along with other provisions including elimination of existing fiscal incentives to encourage expansion (7/x)

Scalise says 2027 is the new target date to implement Medicaid work requirements

As Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives

Congress is looking at major changes to the Medicaid expansion. New research finds it has saved 27,000 lives. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/h...

As Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives

As Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/h...

Of course we will report updated CBO numbers when they are published!

Republicans in W&M voted down an amendment that would have permanently extended enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
@repstevenhorsford.bsky.social, who introduced it, argued that if Congress was using a current policy baseline for tax cuts, it should also do so for the subsidies.

Millions Would Lose Health Coverage Under G.O.P. Bill. But Not as Many as Democrats Say.

In the first 15 minutes of the E&C markup, the number 13.7 million uninsured has already come up twice. It's an exaggeration of what the GOP bill would do. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...

Chasing Tax Cuts, Trump and Republicans Want to Make States Pay

Read @tonyromm.bsky.social on the many the ways the Trump agenda will put pressure on state budgets. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...

What’s Going On With Boys and Young Men? We Want to Hear From You.

My colleague Claire Cain Miller is hoping to hear from folks about challenges facing boys and young men. Please read her article and share your stories here: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...

CMS just proposed a rule to make it harder for states to increase their federal Medicaid match by taxing managed care providers. The policy is similar to a provision in the House legislation released last night. public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-08566.pdf h/t @newscat44.bsky.social

Yes! Thanks for flagging. This rule deals with one subset of these taxes.

Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other relevant executive department and agency (agency) officials, communicate most-favored-nation price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices for American patients in line with comparably developed nations.

There's relatively little substantive content in the text of the MFN EO, but this section is emblematic of the many, many questions people should have about its scope. Where will the Secretary get this pricing information? How will they decide "price targets"? For which drugs? Which countries? Etc.

The morning after House Republicans release a plan to reduce Medicaid spending by hundreds of billions, Sen. Josh Hawley is out with an op-ed encouraging his colleagues not to cut the program. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/o...

Republicans Propose Paring Medicaid Coverage but Steer Clear of Deeper Cuts

p.s. here's my midnight read on the legislative proposal: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...

Bluesky friends: Any theories about the story behind the special Tennessee DSH policy in this bill?

Seeking Spending Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Target a Tax Hospitals Love To Pay - KFF Health News Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.

Read Phil Galewitz on Medicaid provider taxes, in a story that cites many individual hospitals that enjoy paying them and depend on related revenue streams. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

CBO lowballs coverage losses if Republicans defund the ACA Medicaid expansion CBO underestimates coverage losses if Republicans defund the ACA Medicaid expansion

Some left-leaning analysts think CBO has underestimated the insurance coverage losses that would be caused by various Medicaid cuts. Read @xpostfactoid.bsky.social for the details: xpostfactoid.blogspot.com/2025/05/cbo-...

Medicaid Taxes Pay for Themselves Also tariff loans, OpenAI/Microsoft and stock buybacks.

I expect this newsletter to be dollar-positive before it becomes dollar negative. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news...

There were tons of pre-aca expansions of Medicaid, too.

Absolutely! Our story lays out several of the options and estimates of the state budget hits.