By Mike Koetting September 1, 2026
As various cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) take effect, it becomes clear that they will substantially reduce the health care options available to millions of Americans.
This is awful.
But this note is not focused on the harm it does people impacted directly, rather on the fact that the entire premise of these cuts is fundamentally a lie. Despite any rationalizations by Republicans, the cuts in Medicaid and the ACA included in the Republicans’ budget bill are less reductions in health care costs and more shifts in who pays. In this case, it moves costs from the most wealthy (by reducing their taxes) to the rest of us (who pick up the pieces in various ways.) It is a stealth “tax” increase on those not specifically benefited from Republican Budget Bill.
If the country is ever going to have an honest discussion about health care, we need to understand the actual dynamics.
Continue reading “Republicans Aren’t Cutting Health Care Costs—They’re Just Shifting Them”
