stock here: I was going to do this….but she did it….also Synopsis under the video, and full text.
Summary of Squirrel Tribe Commentary on GOP Medicaid Plan
The Squirrel Tribe video covers reactions to recent social media statements by Senator Chuck Schumer, who criticized a GOP Medicaid proposal that he claims could result in 1.5 million New Yorkers losing coverage and cost local healthcare systems billions. The speaker aims to investigate the actual content of the proposal without political bias.
Key components of the GOP plan:
Work Requirements: Adults aged 19–64 would need to work, volunteer, or participate in education programs for at least 80 hours/month to retain Medicaid eligibility. Exemptions include pregnant women, disabled persons, and caregivers.
Eligibility Verification: More frequent income checks to ensure only qualified individuals remain on Medicaid.
Cost Sharing: States can impose co-pays for individuals above 100% of the federal poverty level, capped at 5% of income.
Provider Tax Limits: No new taxes on healthcare providers; existing taxes frozen.
Funding Restrictions: Medicaid funding would be barred for facilities providing abortions or gender transition procedures for minors.
Savings Targets: Expected to save $715 billion from Medicaid and ACA reforms, with an estimated 8.6 million fewer people insured by 2034.
The speaker supports work requirements and eligibility checks, arguing that fewer enrollees would help ensure better funding for those truly in need.
Clarification is also given between Medicaid (state-federal aid for low-income individuals) and Medicare (federal aid for seniors and those with disabilities). The speaker ends by recommending Chapter Medicare as a resource for optimizing Medicare plans.
The tone is casual but informative, seeking to educate viewers while criticizing what the speaker sees as misleading political outrage.
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Full Transcript
So I wanted to bring you a little bit of information about what he is currently going off about on social media, specifically the platform X. This is what he had to say. This was just yesterday. He posted this up less than 24 hours ago. He says the GOP plan to gut Medicaid could kick 1.5 million New Yorkers off health insurance and rip 13.5 billion from local New York hospitals and healthcare every single year. That’s what New York Republicans are preparing to steal from New Yorkers to fund their billionaire tax cuts.
And I was like, “Oh, I mean that sounds bad, right? To do all that to New Yorkers.” So I wanted to find out if this is actually exactly what Chuck Schumer and a lot of other Democrats are trying to convince the people of the United States of America that is actually happening. So I asked some questions.
Now first I do want to remind everybody that there is a difference between Medicare and Medicaid, which we will get into in just a little bit. But the GOP’s Medicaid plan—I wanted to know exactly what it is and take out all the political bias: not left, not right, not even independent, just no political bias whatsoever. I want the meat and potatoes of what this whole thing is.
So the House Republican plan for Medicaid, as outlined in recent proposals, focuses on reducing federal spending by approximately $880 billion over a decade to offset tax cuts and other priorities. Now, this is what’s important—these are the key components, because I feel like everybody should know this. Whether you’re on Medicaid or not, you could need Medicaid at some point in your life—you just never know. So it’s always a good idea to kind of have some sort of information or knowledge or understanding about what’s going on, right?
So this is what they are proposing. They are saying that there should be work requirements. Basically, adults ages 19 to 64 would need to work. Already I’m kind of like, okay, that makes sense, right? Says they would need to work, volunteer, or participate in educational programs for at least 80 hours per month to maintain eligibility for Medicaid. Exemptions apply for pregnant women, people with disabilities, caregivers of dependent children, and others. Implementation is set for January 2029.
I would also like to point that out: January 2029. So Chuck Schumer is all up in his feelings right now and all over social media screaming from the top of his lungs about this whole entire thing—and it’s not even set until 2029. Technically, President Trump will no longer be in office in 2029. The reason I think that they are so upset about this and so worried about this is because I feel like they know that a Democrat president following behind President Trump is almost impossible—that there will be another Republican president after our current administration is over.
Because what they have for options as a Democrat president and vice president right now—what do you got? You got Gavin Newsom—nobody wants that. People in California would never vote for him, and California is one of the largest states—they would never vote for him. You have AOC—no. She’s a bartender at heart, that’s really all she’s good for. Nobody’s voting for AOC. You have Tim Walz—he pretty much shot himself in the foot the first time he walked out on the stage and waved at people. He’s done. Nobody wants him. Kamala Harris running again? It seems like even the Democrats aren’t that dumb. There’s no way they would put her on a ballot again. It’s not even going to happen.
And then really, what do you have left? Unless somebody comes out of the woodwork in the next year or two to start really pushing their name into the hat for Democrat president or even Democrat vice president, there’s nobody. Whereas with Republicans, you have plenty of names out there—plenty of options.
So the other thing that they are saying—these are the key components that you guys should know about. Eligibility verification: more frequent and rigorous income checks to ensure only eligible individuals remain enrolled, which is extremely important. You don’t want people on Medicaid who are out there making a ton of money, spending a ton of money, and yet you have your state funds and some federal funds paying them to live a lifestyle that they could do on their own without needing Medicaid, right?
So that one makes sense to me as well. Then they’re saying cost sharing is another key component. States would impose co-pays or out-of-pocket costs for Medicaid enrollees with incomes above 100% of the federal poverty level, capped at 5% of a patient’s income.
Then you have provider tax limits. Here it says the plan restricts states from increasing or imposing new taxes on health care providers—examples being hospitals and nursing homes—which are used to draw federal Medicaid funds. Current taxes are frozen. There will be no change there.
And then there’s funding restrictions. It would ban federal Medicaid payments to facilities like Planned Parenthood that perform abortions and prohibits coverage of gender transition procedures for minors.
If you have a problem with that, there’s already something wrong with you. Let’s just be completely upfront about that. If you have a problem with them not wanting federal money or state-provided money to pay for a child to have gender reassignment, then okay. Or you think that it’s wrong that the state doesn’t pay for your abortion—there’s already so many things wrong with you it’s ridiculous.
Then savings targets: the House Energy and Commerce Committees aim to save $715 billion from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act changes, with additional savings from energy policy reforms. Now, the Congressional Budget Office estimates these changes could result in 8.6 million fewer people insured by 2034—which is 9 years away—with $912 billion in total federal savings.
The plan avoids deeper structural changes like per capita caps or reduced federal matching rates for Medicaid expansion, which were considered but not included.
For there to be 8.6 million fewer people on Medicaid, it means that right now there are 8.6 million people that should not be on Medicaid. There are too many people on Medicaid, and just like supply and demand, when you have so many people on this, it makes it hard for the money to actually be there for the people who need it. If you had fewer people on this but the same budget, there’s going to be more coverage for people who are on it.
At least that’s how I think it should go—or would go. But the fact is, we as a country and each individual state are hemorrhaging money on people who don’t need it because they have found ways to milk the system or work around the system or find loopholes in the system. Normally, I’m all for a good loophole if it can help you save money or whatever else—but not at the cost of screwing over my brothers and sisters, my neighbors, my other citizens. I’m not okay with that.
So this is a huge deal. I think that the GOP Medicaid plan is something that the Democrats loathe, but the Republicans are obviously all for. Well, maybe not all—there are some RINOs in play, right? But I don’t see anything wrong with having work requirements. I don’t see anything wrong with eligibility verifications. I think they’re saying they want to do two a year instead of one a year or something like that—okay, that makes sense to me. I feel like the same thing should happen with anything that is government money funded for somebody. You should have to show and prove that you should be able to be on whatever program it is or however much money that you’re getting. It’s only fair.
A lot of people don’t like the word fair, but unfortunately it does matter—that word does matter. So there’s that.
Now, the difference between Medicare and Medicaid—let’s jump into that real quick. Now obviously, a lot of y’all already know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, but there are some newcomers who might not know the difference. I know in the beginning I was not aware that Medicare and Medicaid were two totally different things, because I wasn’t on either of them. I’m not on either of them. So it’s been a learning game for me as well.
So Medicare and Medicaid—two totally different beasts. They are both technically federal programs but not exactly the same.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides health insurance primarily for low-income individuals, families, pregnant women, children, and people with disabilities. Eligibility and benefits vary by state. Obviously, that’s why some people move to certain states depending on what they need from their Medicaid. They will move where it’s going to benefit them the most. And it covers a broad range of services including hospital care, doctor visits, and long-term care with minimal or no cost to enrollees.
Which is again another reason why this GOP Medicaid thing that they’re trying to make some tweaks to—to save $880 billion over the next 10 years—makes sense, because the people who are on Medicaid generally speaking have minimal or no cost to themselves, and so it is coming from the state, from federal, and things like that.
Medicare is a federal program. It’s not state-based. It provides health insurance mainly for people aged 65 and older, as well as some younger individuals with disabilities or specific conditions like end-stage renal disease. It has four parts: A, B, C, and D—which we’ve covered numerous times. These cover hospital insurance, medical insurance, Medicare Advantage plans, and prescription drug coverage, respectively. Beneficiaries often pay premiums, deductibles, and co-pays—so it’s a little different than Medicaid, whereas Medicaid more or less covers everything for you. Medicare—you do have to pay your own way on a lot of these things.
Now the programs overlap for some individuals known as dual eligibles, who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare. For these people, Medicaid may cover costs that Medicare doesn’t—like long-term care or Medicare premiums—depending on state rules. There are about 12 million people that are dual eligibles, mostly low-income seniors or people with disabilities. And again, what they’re trying to do with Medicaid right now could knock some of those people off, because it’ll determine if they need to be dual Medicare and Medicaid or if they only need Medicare and don’t warrant being on Medicaid.
Right now, I don’t have any information on how to get Medicaid for you guys because it’s all state-based. But Medicare, being a federal program—I do partner with Chapter. I don’t know if you guys have been here before and heard me speak about Chapter, but Chapter Medicare will help you guys out immensely with figuring out if you are on the best plan for yourselves—whether it’s A, B, C, or D—or if there’s tweaks that can be made to get you into a better plan. Whether it will save you money or it’ll get you into a better doctor or someplace like that, it’s worth calling. It is free to call.
I’m going to show you guys the number right now. Here you go. The phone number is 513-898-3528. Like I said, it is a free phone call. It can take all of 2 minutes; it can take an hour. It just kind of depends on what your situation is and what they really need to dive into. But everybody that has called so far has given phenomenal feedback on, one, the customer service—because to me, customer service is huge. If you’re going to call someplace, you want somebody on the other end of the line who’s going to give half a crap about why you’re calling and really want to help you. And so far, every single person I have spoken to has said that Chapter Medicare definitely is that. They give a crap about what you are going through, what you need, and they will do everything they can to help you find the best plan—whether it is changing one or changing two or whatever else.
So if you’re in the Medicare realm, I always say it’s worth calling. Because again, it’s a free phone call just to see if where you are is where you should be or maybe if there’s some place that might be better for you in the Part A, B, C, or D realm. And then when it’s time to make changes, that’s up to you if you want to do so or not. Again, free phone call—a couple minutes out of your life that may save you money. Worth doing.
So anyway, Squirrel Tribe—hopefully this information was helpful, beneficial, enjoyable—I don’t know. But at the end of the day, what matters most is: I love you guys, and I hope you guys have a fabulous day. And I’ll see you on the next one. Bye.