U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, spoke about President Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” and criticism of the bill provision to cut federal funding for Medicaid.
[Note: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported: “Effective January 1, 2029, the reconciliation bill’s proposal would require states to deny coverage to people applying for Medicaid if they are not already working (or participating in another qualifying activity) at least 80 hours per month, as well as terminate Medicaid for people already enrolled if they cannot document that they are meeting work requirements.”]
On CNBC, Lankford said: “People are screaming and saying, ‘Hey, it’s kicking people off Medicaid.’ It’s not kicking people off Medicaid. It’s transitioning from Medicaid to employer-provided healthcare. So yes, we’ve got 10 million people that are not gonna be on Medicaid, but they then are gonna be on employer-provided healthcare.”
Lankford: “People are screaming and saying, ‘It’s kicking people off Medicaid.’ It’s not kicking people off Medicaid. It’s transitioning from Medicaid to employer-provided healthcare. So yes, we’ve got 10 million people that are not gonna be on Medicaid, but they then are gonna… pic.twitter.com/PkQHalchgK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 5, 2025
Many on X are voicing their opposition to Lankford’s comments and noting that the majority of Medicaid recipients — 64% — do work.
[According to KFF 2023 data, 44% of working-age adults (19-64) on Medicaid work full time; 20% work part-time, 12% are not working due to caregiving, 10% are not working due to illness or disability, 8% are not working due to retirement, inability to find work, or for another reason, and approximately 7% are not working due to school attendance.]
Lankford’s remarks are being met with disapproval on X, especially from small business owners. As Pete Garrett replied: “As a small business owner I can’t afford insurance for my employees.”
James Knowles replied: “I have a small business. I don’t make enough money to provide health insurance for my employees. So I have them as contractors.” Another chimed in: “Only 54% of private business offered some health benefits. What are you talking about? WHAT?”