Republican lawmakers have proposed a raft of cost-cutting measures that could limit access to Medicaid and Medicare.

Why It Matters

Funding cuts and regulatory changes could radically reduce Medicaid, the largest program providing medical and health-related services to low-income people, as well as Medicare, federal health insurance for people 65 or older, and some under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions.

In every presidential election, Democrats and Republicans lob charges and claims about the venerable old-age programs Social Security and Medicare. Older Americans are more reliable voters, and these types of attacks — which at The Fact Checker we call “Mediscare” — appear to have resonance. But caveat emptor — the claims are often misleading.

A new bill would change Medicare Advantage for seniors, and many might benefit from faster prior authorization times.

A bipartisan group of senators proposed the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act, which would make the prior authorization process more efficient, enabling seniors to get faster treatment and reduce unnecessary paperwork.

Social Security recipients could see their benefits cut by hundreds of dollars a month in roughly a decade if Congress doesn’t make changes.

The head actuaries for Social Security and Medicare testified before the GOP-led House Budget Committee on Thursday and laid out the looming insolvency situation.

Health policy and politics are inextricably linked. Policy is about what the government can do to shift the financing, delivery, and quality of health care, so who controls the government has the power to shape those policies. 

President Biden and former president Donald Trump don’t agree on much, but both have pledged not to touch Social Security benefits. This is a reflection of political reality, which is that a lot of seniors, who tend to vote at high rates, depend on the programs, and that they are popular generally. Social Security has a broadly progressive impact on income distribution: The bottom half of earners rely on it to stay out of poverty in retirement.

A financial expert has warned that the Social Security program is "heading for trouble," despite a new report indicating the benefit program is doing well.

The Medicare and Social Security trustees’ reports illustrate the same thing they do every year: These programs are not financially sustainable and will require reforms if they are to continue to exist.

The insolvency date for Medicare was extended to 2036, rather than 2031 from last year’s report, leading some to conclude that the program has fundamentally improved. This conclusion is wrongheaded for two reasons.