Speaker Mike Johnson says some Medicaid recipients will 'choose' whether to lose health care under House spending bill

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

June 1, 2025, 10:51 AM EDT


Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Sunday defended cuts to Medicaid in the budget bill House Republicans passed last month, saying that “4.8 million people will not lose their Medicaid unless they choose to do so.” Johnson told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the bill imposes “commonsense” work requirements for some Medicaid recipients and added that he’s “not buying” the argument that the work requirements, which would require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work, participate in job training programs or volunteer for 80 hours a month, are too “cumbersome.”

“You’re telling me that you’re going to require the able-bodied, these young men, for example, OK, to only work or volunteer in their community for 20 hours a week. And that’s too cumbersome for them?” Johnson told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “I’m not buying it. The American people are not buying it.”

The bill also adds new rules and paperwork requirements for those Medicaid recipients and increases eligibility checks and address verifications. Johnson argued that the work requirements “should have been put in a long time ago.” “The people who are complaining that these people are going to lose their coverage because they can’t fulfill the paperwork, this is minor enforcement of this policy, and it follows common sense,” Johnson added.

Johnson’s comments come as Republicans have faced pushback in town halls for the cuts to Medicaid in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” package that passed along party lines in the House last month. Reps. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, were booed when they mentioned their support for the package at events in their districts. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, also faced pushback after she defended the proposed cuts, telling attendees at a town hall on Friday that “we all are going to die.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mike-johnson-medicaid-recipients-will-choose-whether-lose-healthcare-rcna210207

[joshdawg]

1. That smug little shit needs to disappear..........

and I don't give a shit how.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. Earth to MAGA Mike!!

NO Medicaid recipient will CHOOSE to lose their health care!

Who the fuck is he kidding here?

[AllaN01Bear]

4. ding.

[Wounded Bear]

20. One could argue that they "chose" to lose their Medicaid every time...

they voted another repub into office.

[BOSSHOG]

27. Beware republicans speaking of common sense

[Callie1979]

3. Sorry. but this is a losing argument for Democrats.

People who are young, NOT disabled & not taking care of disabled family need to be working or learning.
Yes, I understand the argument that this is just a first step to getting rid of ALL medicare. But Bill Clinton was smart enough to know what the majority of the public wanted when he passed the "workfare" laws in the 90s. Make sure the rules are specific.

[Silent Type]

7. Tend to agree. Most already work and there are so many exceptions to the work requirements that few

people will be impacted. Exceptions include disability, illness, frailty, caring for ill family member, those in a nursing home, mental illness, those with young children, going to school, in job training, volunteering, etc.

The real solution is to cover everyone without putting them in categories like Medicare, Medicaid, employer responsible for health insurance, etc. But Congress has failed us for 60 years in that respect.

[walkingman]

13. Agree - In rural Texas, there are a lot of "contractors", by that I mean people

that do work....ranch, tree work, fencing, simple home maintenance, etc. that work for cash....they don't pay taxes so have no proof of work. When they get sick and go to the hospital the hospital has to care for them and in order to get paid helps them get on "assistance". It is in their benefit to do this otherwise they would have to eat the cost.
The real problem is that our government has this crazy idea that your health should depend on your wealth. Instead of viewing healthcare as a human right, like everything else in America....if it is not for profit it shouldn't exist.

The GOP does not understand the basic principle that government is there for one purpose and one purpose alone.....to serve the people.

[Callie1979]

32. Yep; and if we had a structure like many other countries, we COULD have it

But our people scream "Socialism!!!!" without knowing what the hell they're talking about

[Blackjackdavey]

40. fraud

major problem here is, medicaid is straight up income based. the person in your example is committing actual fraud if they're hiding income (and are actively hiding their work activity for that reason.)

[walkingman]

45. You are correct - fraud is wrong no matter who does it. But

I have much more empathy for poor people or people struggling than I do corporations or the wealthy doing it.

IMO, the solution is to have a social safety net in our country, especially when it comes to healthcare, like most of the rest of the industrialized world.

[angrychair]

25. Who is gaming the system exactly?

Be specific. Cite specific examples of documented cases were Medicaid recipients are defrauding the system.
I promise it's less than 1%.
These people are not getting a direct financial benefit, they are getting their medical bills paid.

I mean seriously, the speaker gave the "example" of healthy young men, living in their parents basement, playing video games all day, gaming the Medicaid system. I ask, to what end?!? It's a wholly ridiculous premise.
I think it's safe to say that 99.997% of Medicare/Medicaid fraud is done by providers, not recipients.

[ms liberty]

30. This. We're seeing regurgitated RW talking points here.

[Callie1979]

33. Well, there's a question that should be asked of Johnson. SHOW US.

If its widespread, it should be EASY

[Callie1979]

31. Well according to Trump, the next Dem Pres can just start universal healthcare!

Just issue an EO ordering it!

[snowybirdie]

8. The bill will

also close rural hospitals which will impact younger people and will affect nursing home reimbursement for vulnerable seniors. All Americans will feel the cuts.

[ImNotGod]

9. Yes, neo liberals were all for opening the door so fascists can continue the destruction of safety nets

yes, we should just let them do it

[Karasu]

17. Glad someone said it.

Last edited Sun Jun 1, 2025, 05:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Safety nets are supposed to be for everyone, whether you work (or are even capable of working) or not.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. You are accepting their "framing"

like those who accept that there is rampant "VOTER FRAUD!!!1!!1!!!" and "WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE!!!11!!!11" in the federal government.

It is another ruse that the GOP is using to dismantle the "New Deal" and "Great Society" programs that they never liked.

Right now, there are who knows how many who are forced to get lawyers to help them navigate through the SS Disability system and it might take years to finally be declared "disabled".

You might be surprised to know that there are "young healthy" mothers who give birth to a 1.5lb preemie who is in a NICU at a hospital, facing $1 million of medical bills. You will see more of that with the "forced birth" GOPers where women end up with premature infants that need extra medical care and she is told to get her ass out to work.

Good luck with the so-called "caring for another person" nonsense because they are going to gut the program.

The "problem" isn't those who are using Medicaid because most who do are forced to because they have NO INSURANCE. They may be gig workers with 2 or 3 part-time jobs and can't even afford ACA coverage and their various jobs don't offer medical insurance.

The "problem" is the COST of that medical care and allowing "for-profit" vulture capitalists to buy up hospitals and hospital systems, milk them, then close them down and move on to the next set.

[Marthe48]

19. Hitting the nails on the heads

Every point, right on!
Thank you.

The 3 people I know on Medicaid: Autistic adult male, lives in a group home, works in a sheltered workshop. Any money he gets is managed. Birth damaged, profoundly retarded adult male. As far as I know, he can't work. Physically impaired adult female, worked until age 73, in spite of crippling pain from lifelong spinal problems and failed surgeries. These people are more human than the rwnj monsters trying to kill them. The bastards cutting the threads of our safety nets must never have had loved ones with immense problems, physical or mental.

[Blackjackdavey]

41. none of those three people are on medicaid primary

All three are eligible for Medicare, and depending on their social security benefit they may have medicaid secondary but medicaid is income based. Medicaid comes automatically with SSI disability (no work history) medicare automatically with SSDI (work history) disability. Sometimes work history is little, ssdi therefore pays little, therefore people may be eligible for both. medicare remains primary. People born with developmental disabilities and identified before 18 are eligible for medicare up front.

[Attilatheblond]

29. Poverty is a big part of the number of people using Medicaid

and those WORKING PEOPLE are poor because too many US businesses do not pay living wages.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. It doesn't even have to be people in poverty

because the system itself WILL make you poor if you lack any insurance (and even if you have it and they deny the claims). Few plans have truly "catastrophic coverage" (as it is dubbed).

And agree about wages - especially when something as simple as the minimum wage hasn't been raised in almost 20 years and a "livable" wage is over twice that.

[LudwigPastorius]

11. The fact is, the vast majority of fraud against Medicaid (and Medicare) is perpetrated by providers, not...

individual recipients trying to "game" the system.

Hmm...I wonder if this bill addresses that.

[lonely bird]

22. This

Plus insurance companies with Medicare Advantage plans and private equity anywhere along the process.

[Blackjackdavey]

42. This is true

but the example given upthread of people working off the books and receiving medicaid are committing fraud. The real kind. Medicaid is income based. it is important to go into this with eyes wide open.

[Blackjackdavey]

43. This is addressed six ways to sunday

in the existing regulations. As is individual fraud. There is no need for any legislation regarding medicaid fraud.

[Silent Type]

5. Until Congress gets off its rears and enacts universal coverage, we'll always have disputes over who should get

this program vs another.

[questionseverything]

36. "Volunteering" 80 hours a month for $187. In food stamps is slave labor

[Silent Type]

37. I agree, but Food Stamp work requirements have been law for decades including admins from both Parties.

[LearnedHand]

38. That doesn't freaking make it right

It continues to be an attack on the most vulnerable to make a political point about people' "defrauding" Medicare and SNAP.

[OrlandoDem2]

6. Someone tell all these gop pecker heads to fuck off!

[SunSeeker]

12. Nobody "chooses" to lose their healthcare, you evil shit.

[GiqueCee]

14. So, Mikey...

... everyone knows that you blow your I'm more Christian than you are! horn at every possible opportunity, but if The Naz were here today, I'm pretty sure that He wouldn't cross the street to piss in your face if you were on fire. You personify the total antithesis of every principle on which Christianity is – or, at least, was – based. You are a malevolent fraud, and rotten down to your DNA.
20 hours a week of community service on top of a 40-hour work week is the very definition of cumbersome, you fucking asshole!
Perverted primates like you are the reason decent people despise the Republican Party, and deservedly so.
Slither back into the cesspool that spawned you, so we can begin repairing the horrific damage you've done.

[questionseverything]

35. It's not 20 hours on top of a 40 hour week

It’s 20 hours a week of volunteering if you don’t work 20 hours a week already

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

15. If there's a hell, fake Christian Johnson is headed there

[Buddyzbuddy]

16. In 2026, Johnson will lose his leadership position because he chose to.

[patphil]

18. I agree. His callous disregard for people and for the Constitution is his choice.

There's going to be an accounting for all the evil shit these Republicans are engaging in.
In the 2026 election, they're going to lose the House for sure, and most likely the Senate also.

[Ford_Prefect]

21. This battle has been fought over and over since the Depression. They define able bodied as those who can stand and tie

their shoes.

I have fought this false perception of healthy and "normal" all my life regarding invisible disabilities, depression, and things like PTSD, or severe anxiety, ADHD, Autism, learning disabilities and a host of other "challenges".

The standards our so called betters would use they themselves wouldn't pass. They don't recognize their own manias, depressions and alcoholism. They do not have the professional perspective or experience to decide who is "fit" and who needs support. Is it any wonder that they obscure the issues through outdated language, psychologically loaded terms and distortions, while decades of well documented research and fieldwork show that the opposite of their abuse is what grants the best outcomes.

I'd love to see how well they would do spending a day, a week, or a month walking in the shoes of those they so enthusiastically plan to condemn.

The simple truth is that the alleged savings they demand could easily be found by cancelling the next round of F-35's currently on order, or repealing the tax breaks so generously granted to the ultra rich. and replacing them with a 2% tax on incomes above $20 million per year.

But they would much rather sanctimoniously punish those whom wiser minds and warmer hearts protected in Law.

[lonely bird]

24. This allegedly Christian nation has serious issues

Mrs. Bird’s cousin used to park in the handicap spots. She had the proper documentation include a hang tag on the rear view mirror. She would get out of the car and walk to the building and get weird looks. She didn’t look like she had any issues. However, she had cystic fibrosis.

The constant whining of the Right about waste, fraud and abuse is annoying. It is especially galling when Rick Scott the criminal is a senator.

They really don’t give a damn about waste, fraud and abuse because it occurs overwhelmingly when the private sector is involved with government.

[Warpy]

23. Another cruel bastard

who thinks most people in his state choose to eat beans and rice rather than nice, juicy steaks because they don't know any better or something else stupidly elitist.

But hey, every 2 years he turns into a good ole boy so they'll keep voting for him and their own increasing desperation as his masters suck this country dry.

[AZJonnie]

26. Wait til this asshole finds out how 'unemployment insurance' works

"For far too long, people without jobs have been collecting unemployment insurance benefits. The American People demand our common-sense solution of limiting these benefits to people who are working!"

[bucolic_frolic]

28. They will be the greatest volunteers

unable to afford transportation, skilled at nothing.

Who's going to pay for job training programs? Push off the costs to the states? Or counties?

[Torchlight]

39. They're not winning the messaging game on this one. Not yet, anyways.

Joe and Suzy Q. Voter may not understand the nuances hidden inside the legislation, but they do know they're getting screwed with this one. GOP has to step up their frame-game, or lose this one hard.

This bill's particular vote's will officially begins the mid-term campaign season for me.

[Marthe48]

44. Like choosing poison or poison?

Choosing between housing or homeless? Between meds and groceries?

Old and New Testament of the religion he's befouling emphasize taking care of others and treating others as you would treat yourself. rwnj like this little shit have twisted an influential belief system into something their devil loves.

[Paladin]

46. Yeah, well. I "choose" to label Mike Johnson for what he is:

A theocracy-inclined, trump-sucking chickenshit.