Washington, D.C. — In the Heritage Foundation’s policy manifesto, Project 2025, there is a proposal for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to impose lifetime caps on Medicaid benefits. This would mean that once an individual has been on Medicaid for a predetermined period, they could lose eligibility regardless of their financial situation.
A new column from the Center for American Progress (CAP) explains how these lifetime caps would strip benefits from low-income populations, particularly in states that have not expanded Medicaid.
Key takeaways from the column include:
Project 2025 would have a significant impact on people living in the 10 states that have not adopted the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. These states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—already have stringent Medicaid eligibility limits. Lifetime limits would further restrict coverage access.
Cutting off Medicaid coverage can force low-income individuals to delay or skip necessary medical care due to high costs. An arbitrary lifetime cap on Medicaid would hurt millions of families by potentially forcing them into choosing between affording health care and meeting basic household needs.
The ripple effects of losing Medicaid coverage would severely undermine the economic security of families across the country. People in better health are more likely to be employed; without Medicaid coverage, many low-income workers may struggle to maintain employment, further perpetuating economic instability and increasing reliance on social safety nets.
“Project 2025’s Medicaid proposal is a threat to the health and economic security of millions of Americans,” said Natasha Murphy, director of Health Policy at CAP and author of the column. “Stripping people of their Medicaid benefits would leave many low-income enrollees, especially those in nonexpansion states, without any affordable coverage options, forcing them to forgo essential medical care and undermining their ability to work.”
Read the column: “Project 2025 Medicaid Lifetime Cap Proposal Threatens Health Care Coverage for up to 18.5 Million Americans” by Natasha Murphy.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].
