CMS Chief of Staff: House bill aims to slow — not cut — Medicaid spending

STAT Managing Editor and AHCJ Board Vice President Gideon Gil moderates a Q&A with CMS Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff Stephanie Carlton at HJ25 in Los Angeles. Photo by Zachary Linhares You may not have heard this interpretation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: The House-passed legislation is not designed to cut Medicaid spending, according to Stephanie Carlton, deputy administrator and chief of staff at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “Just to be clear, nobody’s proposed a cut,” Carlton said Friday at Health Journalism 2025 in Los Angeles. “It is a management of the rate of growth over time.”  Since the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill on May 22, reports have shown it would cut Medicaid spending. In an analysis of the bill, KFF wrote: “The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest cost estimate shows the bill would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $723 billion and that the Medicaid provisions would increase the number of uninsured people by 7.6 million.” Attendees of HJ25 in L.A. listen to CMS Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff Stephanie Carlton talk about the Trump Administration’s most significant decisions so far and what’s on the horizon. Photo by Zachary
Read More