It appears that House Republicans are retreating somewhat, but not entirely, from significant cuts to the Medicaid program within their proposed tax relief legislation, due to pushback from more moderate Republican colleagues who object to discontinuing virtually free healthcare coverage for their constituents.

According to a recent report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, millions of Americans are projected to lose Medicaid coverage under proposed Republican cost-saving measures. House Republicans are attempting to identify as much as $1.5 trillion in reductions across federal health, food stamp, and other programs to compensate for approximately $4.5 trillion in lost tax revenue due to proposed tax cuts.

“The CBO report indicated that under each of these scenarios, Medicaid enrollment would decline and the number of uninsured individuals would rise.”

The findings ignited new doubts regarding House Speaker Mike Johnson's capacity to pass what President Donald Trump terms his "major, impressive bill" by a self-imposed deadline of Memorial Day.

Lawmakers are getting more worried, especially because of growing economic worries about Trump’s policies, like the trade war that could mean higher prices, fewer products in stores, and people losing their jobs across the country. A main part of the plan is the Republican goal of continuing tax cuts that started in 2017 and will end this year. But they want to cut spending in other areas to help pay for them and stop the country's debt and deficits from getting bigger.

This week, Johnson has been meeting privately in the speaker's office at the Capitol with different groups of Republicans, especially the more moderate ones from areas with close elections. These lawmakers are warning against big spending cuts that would really hurt their districts.

Democrats, having commissioned the CBO report, swiftly capitalised on its conclusions.

This analysis from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office shows what we have been saying: the Republican plans for Medicaid mean millions of people will lose their health care. This was said by Representative Frank Pallone from New Jersey, who asked for the review with Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon.

Emerging from a meeting late Tuesday, House Republican lawmakers suggested that Johnson and the GOP leadership were abandoning several of the most contested adjustments to federal matching fund rates for state Medicaid programs.

According to Representative Jeff Van Drew, a Republican from New Jersey, the proposed alterations to Medicaid have been abandoned.

Republican Representative Nick LaLota of New York pointed out that Trump had stated his opposition to Medicaid reductions, suggesting that the prevailing agreement among Republicans now favors directing these cuts towards alternative areas.

Among other proposals, LaLota mentioned implementing work prerequisites for Medicaid beneficiaries, mandating bi-annual eligibility verification instead of annual, and prohibiting aid to immigrants residing in the U.S. without lawful status.

However, the more conservative Republicans, especially those in the House Freedom Caucus, are pushing for bigger spending cuts because they want to stop the rising deficits caused by the tax breaks.

Medicaid operates as a collaborative initiative overseen by state and federal authorities, providing coverage for 71 million adults.

Republicans are exploring various options to decrease federal expenditure on the program, such as diminishing the proportion the federal government contributes towards enrollees' healthcare costs, which can be up to 90% in certain instances.

Furthermore, they are contemplating establishing a limit on federal government expenditures per Medicaid beneficiary, although this proposal seems to be garnering less support from legislators.

The CBO indicated that while these proposed alterations could yield billions in cost reductions, they would concurrently lead to approximately 10 million individuals being stripped of their Medicaid coverage.

They appear to have been definitively ruled out.

However, Republicans are still considering other changes to Medicaid, like putting new limits on how states tax healthcare providers. This tax currently helps states get more money from the federal government. This change could save billions of dollars, but a report says it could also mean about 8 million people lose their health insurance.