Sen. Raphael Warnock says 'people will lose coverage' if reconciliation bill passes

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Sen. Warnock says he will vote against the Trump-backed reconciliation bill

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock says that Georgians are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage if a Trump administration-backed reconciliation bill passes both chambers of Congress.

The proposed federal reconciliation bill, called the "One Big Beautiful Bill," would implement additional eligibility requirements from Medicaid, including work requirements, increase some co-pays, and double eligibility checks. It would also eliminate higher staffing requirements for nursing homes where the majority of Georgia seniors are on Medicaid.

But Warnock says since over 70% of Georgians on Medicaid are children, they will be most impacted.

“So they're literally taking health care from children and then burdening those same children with the huge national debt that this unfunded mandate will create," he said. 

The White House says the changes to Medicaid will prevent waste and abuse and protect taxpayer dollars.

The U.S. Senate needs to approve the bill, and then the House will need to vote on it again to approve any changes the Senate has made before President Donald Trump can sign it into law. 

All of Georgia's Republican U.S. representatives voted for the bill when it passed the House, and all of Georgia's Democrats voted against it. But U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she will not vote for it again if a specific section limiting state restrictions on artificial intelligence is still in the bill.