Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) suggested on Sunday that no one “legitimately” on Medicaid will lose their coverage due to GOP efforts to cut spending.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” anchor Chris Stirewalt noted that, for Republicans to achieve the kind of steep spending cuts they have targeted, cuts will likely have to target more than just waste, fraud and abuse.
Stirewalt noted that the Office of Management and Budget has said only about 4 percent of federal payments are improper, which, Stirewalt noted, accounts for just more than $31 billion in Medicaid.
“You all are looking to cut a lot more than that over the next 10 years,” Stirewalt said. “Can you really promise that no one is going to lose their health coverage as a result of this?”
“I think what we can promise is that no one that is legitimately on Medicaid will lose their coverage, and I think that’s important,” Perry said in response.
He suggested Medicaid cuts could affect those who immigrated to the U.S. illegally.
“You’re talking about improper payments, but you didn’t include people that are here illegally. If you’re here illegally, you should not be on any federal assistance program. That’s not what they’re designed for. They’re designed for Americans that are struggling, that are below the poverty line, or that are infirm, that can’t work and afford health care. That’s what that program is designed for, not for millions of people that came flooding across the border and want to just live in America and have everybody else pick up the tab,” Perry added.
Perry was less adamant when asked about working-class families on Medicaid who were included when states expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Asked whether their Medicaid coverage is “sacrosanct,” Perry said, “I think that we have to look at every bit of fraud, waste and abuse, and the states have been gaming the system.”
He continued: “While you’re mentioning the expansion, what you’re not mentioning is something like the provider tax that states then charge the federal government for and use for other things that have nothing to do with Medicaid. So there’s a lot of different things here.”
“There’s money to be found here, Chris, and we’re going to find every single bit of it because the American taxpayer is sick of spending their money and sending it to Washington and getting nothing for it while the country and they go broke,” Perry said.
The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns NewsNation.
