Why Should Delaware Care?
Medicaid is the country’s largest health care coverage program, subsidizing the care of nearly a quarter of the population. But legislation passed by Congress threatens to cause cuts to the program’s coverage, according to Democrats.
At a Monday press conference held at the state’s largest hospital system, Delaware’s Congressional lawmakers accused Republicans of lying about what they call an attempt to implement “the largest cut in Medicaid in American history.”
It echoes similar claims and statements made by Democrats all across the country, who are looking to make the nation’s top subsidized public health program a wedge issue in the early days of the new Trump administration.
These claims are based on a budget resolution passed by Congress this month that set budget goals through 2034, including the need to meet mandated cuts to the federal budget.
More specifically, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare spending, is required to reduce its spending by $880 billion over the next decade.
The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan score-keeper for Congress, confirmed this month that that level of cuts could not be obtained without impacting Medicaid – one of the nation’s largest single expenditures – despite President Donald Trump’s assertions that he didn’t want to touch Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security.
“They’re flat out lying,” U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride said at the press conference on Monday. “They have consistently not told the truth about what their agenda is.”
Democrats are all but daring Republicans to step on one of the most perilous political landmines in cutting the subsidy, hoping to mount enough public support to prevent cuts.
When reached by Spotlight Delaware on Thursday, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the chairman for the Committee on Energy and Commerce, did not answer if the committee would need to make cuts to Medicaid to meet the goal.
What could happen in Delaware?
Medicaid is the federally subsidized health care program for low-income individuals, and is run jointly by states and the federal government. It insures more than one in five Americans.
About a quarter of Delaware’s population is enrolled in Medicaid, making it the second largest provider of coverage behind private employers.
Delaware Medicaid covers doctor visits, hospital care, lab tests, prescription drugs, transportation, routine shots for children, mental health and substance abuse services, according to the state’s Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance.
It’s also a huge line item on Delaware’s annual budget.
The state is required to pay a 50% match for base Medicaid enrollees, but only 10% for those covered under the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.
State spending has nearly doubled in the last decade though. In Fiscal Year 2014, the state spent at least $660 million on the program. Ten years later, Delaware spent $1.1 billion.
Last month, Delaware’s Medicaid office requested a $85.5 million increase to its budget. Should the request make it into the final Fiscal Year 2026 final budget, state spending on Medicaid would increase to $1.2 billion.
In Fiscal Year 2023, Delaware received more than $2.4 billion from the federal government.
As Delaware is in the midst of planning its next budget, any potential cuts would have a lasting impact on how the state plans ahead. Gov. Matt Meyer’s office said in a statement that cuts to Medicaid would “devastate” the state’s health care.
“The Meyer Administration is working with our federal delegation, nonprofit partners, and state agencies to understand better how the proposed cuts would harm vulnerable communities and where we can potentially make up any gaps in coverage,” Mila Myles, a spokeswoman for Meyer’s office, said in an emailed statement.
Myles did not answer if the state would make spending cuts elsewhere in the state’s budget to compensate for any potential losses.
Attempts to reach leaders in Delaware’s Division Medicaid and Medical Assistance office went unanswered this week.
At Monday’s press conference, held at ChristianaCare’s Wilmington Campus, leaders from smaller community health clinics like La Red Health Center, the Henrietta Johnson Medical Center and Westside Family Healthcare said their organizations would be impacted by Medicaid reductions.
Shay Scott, the CEO of the Henrietta Johnson Medical Center in Wilmington, said that more than half of the 3,600 people her clinic served in 2023 were on Medicaid. If drastic cuts came to the program, the clinic would be strained, she said.
Also at the press conference was Nancy Lemus, who outlined how her son relies on coverage from Medicaid.
Without it, she said her family would not be able to afford care for her son, Christopher, who was born with severe disabilities.
She said Medicaid is the reason she’s able to be a mother for Christopher, instead of “just a caregiver fighting for his survival.”
“My son’s life depends on Medicaid, and so do millions of others,” Lemus said.
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