Congress considers cuts that could impact Medicaid

SEVIERVILLE — Potential cuts to Medicaid could affect Tenncare in Tennessee and Sevier County, but so far officials are taking a wait-and-see approach as Congress considers cuts to the federal budget.

As a response to the Trump administration's plans to cut federal spending, House Republicans asked the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion from programs it oversees between 2025 and 2034.

That includes Medicaid and Medicare as well as programs that deal with safe drinking water regulations, climate change, energy, and food and drug safety.

Since that request was announced, much of the focus has been on potential cuts to Medicaid.

President Donald Trump has indicated he didn't intend to cut Medicaid, although he has said he was open if officials find abuse or waste in the program.

Nationwide, the program assists with health insurance to 80 million low-income and disabled people by providing an average of 65% of funds to state insurance program.

In Tennessee, the federal funds are used to supplement Tenncare, the state's managed care program for people with low income or disabilities.

It provided healthcare for about 1.7 million Tennesseans in the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to the program's annual report for that year.

The summary indicates the program covered approximately 20% of the state's population, 50% of the state's births, and 50% of the state's children.

The program's budget for that period was $14.8 billion. Medicaid typically pays about 65% of the cost of state health insurance programs.

The most recent county-by-county breakdown of Tenncare funding also came from the 2022-23 fiscal year.

It indicates that, in January 2023, Sevier County had 24,257 residents enrolled in the program, or about 23.5% of the county's population.

The county received about $130 million in Tenncare expenditures for that fiscal year, or about $5,357 per person, according to the state figures.

While discussions in Washington have indicated Medicaid funds could be on the chopping block, the specific line items that could be cut are not yet clear and opposition to any cuts is lining up from health care advocates and hospitals.

Locally, officials declined to comment until they see more specific proposals and how they might affect the program.