How Trump’s Tax Cuts Might Impact Medicaid and Food Stamps in 2025
Written by
T. Woods
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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In 2017, then-President Donald Trump championed a successful tax bill that lowered taxes for a large majority of American taxpayers. Many of the provisions of the tax bill are set to expire in 2025, and second-time President-elect Trump spent a large part of his 2024 to retake the presidency by promising to extend the 2017 tax bill and prevent those expirations. Such a feat, though, would be a deeply costly one.
As MSN reported, extending the provisions of the 2017 tax bill so that they do not expire at the end of 2025 would add a whopping $4 trillion to America’s national debt, which has already grown to nearly $40 trillion. A major question remains: how will the Trump administration offset the costs of the tax bill extensions?
Reportedly, Trump’s economic advisers have begun “preliminary discussions” concerning Medicaid, food stamps and various other social safety net programs to “offset the enormous cost” of the tax bill extensions. Some have suggested new work requirements for Medicaid eligibility, as well as spending caps for the programs.
While some Republicans have stated that Medicaid spending “has ballooned in the wake of the Affordable Care Act’s expansion,” other Republican leaders might be concerned at a backlash — more than 70 million Americans receive their health benefits via Medicaid, and during Trump’s first term, there was a large amount of voter outrage (even among Republican voters) when Republicans came within one Senate vote of repealing the program.
Placing stringent limitations on Medicare and food stamps to save money might be the best financial means to offset the cost of extending Trumps tax cuts, but doing so may also cost him votes in the next mid-term election.
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