Massive Medicaid cuts have been lingering over Americans since Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed on July 4th, 2025. Since then, Republicans repeatedly assured the public that their only concern was fraud, waste and abuse. Cutting Medicare or Medicaid (known as TennCare in Tennessee) is commonly thought of as being “political suicide” so Republican leadership claimed over and over that cuts in public spending would not affect those that receive Medicare and that the cuts would only impact waste in the Medicaid program. However, the data does not support these claims and the Congressional Budget Office predicts that the Republican’s Budget Bill could produce over $8.5 billion dollars in Medicaid cuts over the next 10 years in Tennessee.
Trump, along with other republicans such as Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn stand behind the Big Beautiful Bill insisting that any cuts to public health programs are to reduce “fraud, waste, and abuse”. Based on a new report from the Tennessee Office of Inspector General, some fraud was, in fact, found in TennCare, but it amounted to a total of $1.8 million dollars of fraud out of a budget of $18.6 Billion (and it cost $6 million to run the office that found that $1.8 million). In the grand scheme of things, this amount doesn’t reflect the large amounts of fraud, waste and abuse claims that republican leaders will lead you to believe is commonplace in the Medicaid system in Tennessee.
This report from the OIG proves that the Trump administration lied to Americans about their true intentions for Medicaid cuts. The so-called “fraud, waste and abuse” is minimal.
So, what does this mean for Tennesseans? These cuts signify an added difficulty to the uphill battle that many citizens face when it comes to accessing healthcare. 1.6 million Tennesseans rely on the Medicaid programs that are threatened in the Big Beautiful Bill. With the economy continuing to decline, these program cuts rip away assistance from low-income working families, mothers, children and the elderly in Tennessee who depend on Medicaid to ensure they receive quality healthcare regardless of income.
This bill isn’t about democrats or republicans; this is about ALL the Americans who will be affected by these cuts. Citizens on both sides are guaranteed to feel the repercussions no matter how many times Republicans tell us not to worry. We should be concerned. This isn’t the time to bend to the will of this administration.
We must educate ourselves and one another and we must unify and exercise our right to vote whenever we are given the opportunity. Will it be easy? No. Is it possible to turn things around? Absolutely!
Democrats at the local level here in Tennessee and at the national level are committed to building a future where all Americans have access to affordable healthcare. Times are difficult, but we haven’t lost hope. We are not giving up, and neither should you.
Don’t miss your chance to vote in our local Special Election this December! We have a real chance to flip our congressional district to a Democrat which will change the balance of power in the United States Congress. Get informed and get out and vote!
Contributed by Rachel Sisco
