Newhouse backs House GOP budget plan that could lead to cuts for Tri-Cities Medicaid users
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse followed House Republicans in passing a budget plan Tuesday night that could set the stage for deep cuts to Medicaid, the public health care program used by millions of Americans.
More than one in three Central Washington residents — about 37%, or nearly 300,000 residents — are enrolled in Medicaid. It’s also the country’s largest insurance program, according to New York Times, covering half of births and two-thirds of nursing home bills.
Ads in recent weeks have called on Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, to save funding for the program often used by veterans, low-income residents, seniors and kids with disabilities.
The House’s budget resolution serves mostly as a framework for future spending, and tees up the Trump Administration to extend portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and pass other federal cuts. It passed mostly down party lines, 217-215. A single Republican — Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky — and all Democrats opposed the measure.
While it doesn’t list Medicaid specifically, lawmakers have voiced concerns about cuts as the Senate and House, both with Republican majorities, iron out the details of a spending plan over the coming weeks, the Associated Press reports.
Trump has reportedly told Republican lawmakers he would not allow cuts to Medicare, but the largest cuts are expected to come from the committee overseeing Medicare and Medicaid spending, which is tasked with finding $880 billion in reductions.
Reductions to SNAP, which provides food stamps for 1-in-6 Tri-Cities households, are also expected.
Congress is facing a March 14 deadline to appropriate funds or face a shutdown of the federal government.
Washington Republicans are lauding the budget resolution’s passing, calling it a necessary step to make important fiscal cuts.
“The passage of this resolution unlocks the process to rein in out-of-control spending, securing our border, and achieving energy dominance,” Newhouse said in a statement. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in both chambers to identify savings and efficiencies in our federal spending as we move forward.”
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, praised the work House Republicans got done with a razor-thin majority.
“Politics is the art of the possible,” the congressman wrote Tuesday on Twitter/X. “Tonight, with the narrowest majority in history, House Republicans stuck together to approve a budget which begins a process to responsibly address our national debt, secure our border, stop tax increases on families and improve our military readiness. Good job, team.”
Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both D-Wash., have pushed back on proposed cuts to Medicaid.
“More than 1.8 million Washingtonians are enrolled in Apple Health, Washington’s Medicaid program,” Cantwell said in a Feb. 12 speech on the Senate floor, pointing out that they include nursing home residents, people with disabilities and children.
“There are those who think to give the tax break to corporations, somehow you’re going to get it out of the hide of these very individuals who are counting on Medicaid,” she said.
Murray said in a news media call Wednesday that “Republicans’ next big priority involves ripping health care away from kids and families and seniors to shower even more tax cuts on billionaires.”
Washington’s 4th and 5th Congressional District have the largest proportions of people on Medicaid among all of Washington’s Congressional Districts, she said in a report.
Washington’s 4th Congressional District stretches from the U.S.-Canada border down to the Columbia River, and includes the Tri-Cities, East Wenatchee, Yakima and the Yakama Indian Reservation. Newhouse has represented the Central Washington district for a decade.
The 5th Congressional District encompasses areas east of the 4th, including Spokane, Walla Walla, Colville, and Pullman. Baumgartner was sworn in to the seat last month, succeeding former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
In the 4th District , which includes Benton County and most of Franklin County’s population, 70% of children rely on Medicaid for health care and 24% of adults, for a total of 38% of its population, according to information from the Washington State Health Care Authority compiled in Cantwell’s report.
In the 5th Congressional District, 54% of children and 22% of adults for a total of 30% of its population rely on Medicaid, according to Cantwell’s report.
The majority of adults who rely on Medicaid have paying jobs, while others are going to school, caring for family members or are disabled or ill, according to Central WA Families, which had launched a campaign of messages asking Newhouse not to cut Medicaid.
About 40% of pregnant women in the 4th Congressional District rely on Medicaid for their babies’ births, according to Central WA Families.
In addition, about 12,000 people in the 4th Congressional District need Medicaid for long-term care, either in nursing homes or in home care due to aging or illnesses, according to Central WA Families.
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 12:09 PM.
