Scott Jennings dumps cold water on CNN host’s Medicaid fear mongering over Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

On CNN Tuesday, Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings took aim at concerns raised by Kasie Hunt regarding Medicaid cuts in the latest legislative effort spearheaded by President Donald Trump.

The Senate Finance Committee revealed its tax and Medicaid proposal in June, making more significant reforms to Medicaid than the House version by imposing stricter eligibility and work requirements, as well as limiting states’ use of health care provider taxes to secure additional Medicaid funding. During an episode of “The Arena With Kasie Hunt,” Hunt said she was frustrated over how she said the bill impacts Medicaid. She referenced a statement from Trump saying he would protect the program.

“I have to say, Scott, him saying I’m not going to vote for Medicaid cuts and then he voted for this bill, which very clearly does cut Medicaid,” Hunt said, referring to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Jennings, however, quickly shot down the criticism.

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Hunt dived deeper into the issue and said the bill threatens rural hospitals, particularly those that need federal support.

“It is a protection of the Social Security. I actually know too much about this because I used to be a health care policy reporter on Capitol Hill. So putting that hat on for a second, the people that are really going to suffer, and the reason this is a problem for Lisa Murkowski and Josh Hawley are the rural hospitals with emergency rooms into which people like that may walk, and if they don’t have Medicaid, they’re not getting any,” Hunt said. “That hospital is not getting any money from that person or from the federal government.

Jennings remained unfazed and said the bill included specific provisions to safeguard rural hospitals.

“Well, the Senate included a massive fund for rural hospitals. I think it was $50 billion, or do they wind up, I forget where they wind up, but a massive fund to cover just what you’re talking about,” Jennings said.

Jennings said the bill takes a thoughtful approach.

“So some care was put into thinking about how do you protect rural hospitals from downside outcomes? I think that’s one of the reasons they’re ultimately going to get it over the line is because they actually work to fix little individual pieces that had people upset about it,” Jennings said.

The House-passed version of the president’s comprehensive tax cut and spending package aims to reduce federal Medicaid spending by around $700 billion over 10 years, according to early estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. Despite these savings, the House Budget Committee projects a 30% growth in federal Medicaid spending by 2034, factoring in the $698 billion in Medicaid cuts outlined in the bill.

Medicaid spending is expected to surpass the 2019 CBO projection, even after adjusting for medical inflation and population growth, according to Jeremy Nighohossian, senior fellow and economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“We’re not cutting Medicaid,” Speaker Mike Johnson said during an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. “We’re strengthening the program by reducing fraud, waste, and abuse to ensure it remains available for the most vulnerable.”

In an interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is President Donald Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also denied that the bill would cut Medicaid.

“We’re not cutting Medicaid,” Oz said. “I’ve seen the proposals. There is no proposal I’ve seen, in fact, in fairness, that doesn’t increase spending on Medicaid.”