Sen. Tom Tillis Opposes Medicaid Cuts Legislation
On Saturday afternoon, North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis (R) declared his intention to vote “no” on both the motion and the final passage related to the proposed agenda for significant reductions in federal Medicaid funding supported by Republican leadership.
Tillis communicated to Republican leaders his preference to abandon plans to reduce the healthcare provider tax cap. Instead, he favors adopting the Medicaid provisions that were recently passed in the House.
“Ah, no, no. The data hasn’t changed, so I’m starting to vote no,” he remarked.
Another Republican from North Carolina emphasized that Senate leaders should revert to “starting at the House baseline.”
“I will not vote for the motion to proceed or the final legislation,” he stated.
This opposition from Tillis is notable, particularly because two other Republicans, Senators Rand Paul (KY.) and Ron Johnson (WI), have also indicated they will vote “no.”
This situation gives more leverage to potentially sway Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and other swing voters in the Senate to reconsider the bill.
Senate Majority Leader John Tune (Rs.D.) can only afford to lose three votes during this process, and with a 53-seat majority, the bill could be passed through a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Vance.
Collins mentioned she plans to vote on Saturday to initiate the debate surrounding the proposal, but she expressed the need for amendments. She is not committed to voting “yes” for the final version.
“I plan to vote to advance the motion. Generally, I respect the majority leaders’ authority to bring the bill to the Senate floor. However, I cannot predict how I will vote come final passage,” Collins informed reporters on Saturday.
Tillis asserted that he would back his fellow Republicans by aiming to “protect the bill.” He noted that Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act would lead to increased healthcare provider taxes while prohibiting states that chose not to expand from establishing new provider taxes.
The Senate bill proposes further reductions in federal Medicaid funding by halving the current 6% healthcare provider tax cap annually starting in 2028, reducing it to 3.5% by 2032.
Given that the federal government matches state-collected taxes, states rely on healthcare provider taxes to secure more federal Medicaid funds.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Senator Johnson from Wisconsin confirmed his opposition to the motion to proceed with the bill on Saturday.
“I’m not going to vote for the motion to proceed today. I received my first copy of the bill around 1:23 a.m. this morning,” he said.
He pointed out that lawmakers have budget estimates that cover less than half of the proposed legislation.
“I don’t even have a full score,” he lamented. “We shouldn’t adopt a Pelosi-like approach—passing the bill to then figure out what’s in it. We need to have a discussion first.”
Senator Paul, another “no” vote, has consistently expressed his disapproval of the bill, citing concerns over provisions that would increase the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
