Obama blasts Republicans for endangering healthcare for millions of Americans

Former President Barack Obama, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, issued a rare and urgent warning, cautioning that new Republican-led legislation could strip healthcare coverage from millions of Americans.

He claimed they could do this by weakening key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to his post on social media.

In a post on social media, Obama called on the public to take action:

“Congressional Republicans are trying to weaken the Affordable Care Act and put millions of people at risk of losing their health care.

“Call your Senators and tell them we can’t let that happen.”

The legislation in question, already passed by the House and now under review in the Senate, could result in the largest reduction in health coverage since the GOP’s failed attempt to repeal the ACA in 2017.

Unlike that effort, this bill does not explicitly seek to repeal Obamacare.

Instead, the cuts are embedded in a broader bill that aims to extend tax breaks first enacted under Donald Trump.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the proposed changes would result in 10.7 million people losing health coverage over the next decade.

Of those, 7.6 million would lose Medicaid while 3.1 million would lose insurance obtained through ACA marketplaces.

The legislation proposes over $800 billion in healthcare spending cuts to help offset the cost of extending the tax cuts.

Key changes include:

Requiring states to verify Medicaid eligibility every six months instead of annually.

Imposing work requirements that mandate 80 hours of employment per month for Medicaid recipients.

Shortening enrollment periods, which could make it harder for eligible individuals to sign up for coverage.

Experts warn these administrative burdens will lead to mass disenrollment.

According to them, this is not because people are ineligible, but because they cannot keep up with the red tape.

Research from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows that most Medicaid recipients already work.

The research also reveals that only 8% of healthy adults receiving Medicaid are unemployed, not in school, and not providing caregiving.

The work requirements alone could account for one-third of the projected coverage losses.

The changes are controversial even within the Republican Party.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri criticized the proposal in a New York Times op-ed, calling the healthcare cuts “morally wrong and politically suicidal.”

Another provision in the bill would reinstate federal payments to insurance companies that reduce costs for low-income enrollees.

However, these payments would only be available to insurers that do not cover abortion services.

This is a move that analysts have said could destabilize insurance markets in the 12 states and Washington, D.C., where abortion coverage is mandated by law.

The insurance industry is sounding the alarm.

AHIP, the nation’s largest health insurance trade group, told a media agency that the proposed changes would cause “immediate instability.”

This according to it, is especially when combined with the expiration of pandemic-era subsidies that currently help 4 million people afford health insurance.

The motivation behind the proposed cuts stems from Republicans’ desire to extend Trump-era tax cuts, which are set to expire.

Since 2017, enrollment in Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and ACA marketplaces has grown from around 85 million to over 100 million people.

On the other hand annual healthcare spending has increased from $550 billion to more than $900 billion.

Despite these dramatic cuts, Republicans argue that their intent is to combat fraud, waste, and abuse within federal health programs.

Donald Trump, speaking to NBC, said, “They’re looking at fraud, waste and abuse.

“And nobody minds that,” he added.

However, critics point out that the legislation does not allocate any new funding to fraud detection efforts.

This has raised doubts about whether the focus is genuinely on efficiency or simply reducing benefits.

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have urged the Social Security Administration and lawmakers to reject the proposed changes.

They emphasize that they would reverse years of progress in expanding healthcare access and leave millions vulnerable.

As the bill progresses through the Senate, it faces growing public scrutiny and political pushback.

The scrutiny and pushback are not only from Democrats and advocacy groups but also from healthcare professionals, economists, and some Republicans.

The final outcome could have sweeping implications for America’s healthcare system.

It could also have same implications on the financial security of millions of low-income and working-class families.

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