June 20, 2025

Senate Republicans Release Long-Awaited Budget Bill Details in Lead Up to July 4 Deadline

The Senate Finance Committee released legislative text that will act as the foundation for the Senate Republican budget bill this week. The text incorporates many provisions from the House version, like repealing the minimum nursing home staffing rule and making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent.

But the new language also targets Medicaid more aggressively. It calls for reducing financial incentives for states that have expanded Medicaid and cutting federal funding for health care facilities that rely on Medicaid. It also reduces federal funding for rural hospitals.

Under the overall Senate budget proposal, certain Medicaid enrollees would have to pay higher copays and the deficit would increase by $5 trillion instead of the House version’s projected $4
trillion.

Unlike the House bill, the Senate version does not crack down on Medicare Advantage insurers’ questionable practice of “upcoding” to get higher payments from Medicare.

“Republicans are trying to destroy essential services and increase the financial burden on average Americans in order to pay for more tax breaks for the wealthiest in the country,” said Joseph Peters, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “We call on Congress to stop this bill from passing in the Senate and prevent millions from losing access to healthcare.”

This was originally published in the June 20, 2025 edition of the Friday Alert. Read the full length version and see other Friday Alert editions here.