Josh Bivens, chief economist with the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, said if the bill passes "as is," health providers would see a steep increase in what's known as "uncompensated care" - when people without coverage get sick but can't afford to pay their medical bills.
"And it means hospitals and doctors no longer receive that income stream from Medicaid payments," he explained. "And lots of them are going to be forced out of business, and there's going to be closures of hospitals, especially in rural counties."
Republicans have cast doubt on the CBO's projections, and claim cutting $715 billion from Medicaid, by eliminating fraud and adding work requirements for adults, would not reduce coverage. The GOP bill aims to fund Trump administration priorities, including more immigration raids and border wall construction, and extending tax cuts passed in 2017.
Bivens said that if the bill becomes law, it would result in what he describes as the direct transfer of income from vulnerable families to the richest Americans, and noted the average cuts to Medicaid, which would kick in after the 2026 midterm elections, would be more than $70 billion a year.
"And then if you look at the tax cuts that will be received by just people making over $1 million per year, those are $70 billion as well," Bivens continued. "We're going to take $70 billion away from poor families on Medicaid, and we're going to give it to families who are making more than $1 million per year."
Six Nobel laureate economists have signed an open letter opposing cuts to safety-net programs in the budget reconciliation bill, and warning the measure would add $5 trillion to the national debt.
"And so, I think the fact that six Nobel Prize winners said 'This is important enough for me to try to draw attention to the implications of this bill' should make people realize the stakes are really large," Bivens concluded.