Arizona Senator Mark Kelly speaks at a press conference addressing the impact of Medicaid cuts on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Tucson, Ariz.
Senator Mark Kelly is criticizing some Republicans’ further attempts to cut Medicaid.
At a press conference Friday, he said hundreds of thousands of Arizonans stand to lose insurance coverage if the cuts, already proposed at over $880 billion, move forward.
“The only reason they’re doing this is they’re trying to find a little bit of savings so their big tax cut doesn’t look so bad,” he said. “To literally take that money essentially out of the pockets of people that don’t have a lot of money, and give it to people who are millionaires and billionaires.”
The criticism came shortly after a tax cut package failed to pass the House Budget Committee on Friday, largely from several Freedom Caucus Republicans who want deeper cuts to Medicaid, which include immediate work requirements of up to 80 hours a month to receive healthcare.
Kelly said many people on Medicaid can’t work, and many would risk losing coverage, but it is hard to say if the work requirements will make it into the final House version.
“I wouldn’t put anything past them,” he said. “It’s gonna be challenging for them to get something they can pass with the most right of the right-wing of House Republicans.”
But when it comes to the Senate, Kelly said some of his Republican colleagues are not in favor of such cuts.
“There are some Senators that realize this is really a horrible thing to do,” he said.
Local healthcare leaders also spoke at Friday’s conference, focusing on the potential impacts on behavioral health as Southern Arizona continues to deal with simultaneous mental health and substance abuse crises.
“This scares me more than anything we’ve had to deal with in my professional career,” said President Dan Ranieri of La Frontera, a prominent behavioral healthcare provider in the state.
Ranieri said Medicaid funds 70% of La Frontera’s substance abuse services and as much as 75% of homeless assistance.
Another proposal in the House bill would require eligibility checks for Medicaid every six months, instead of annually. Kelly said this would add another layer of bureaucracy that could cause more people to lose coverage.
“It’s not about waste and fraud and abuse, it’s about kicking people off, making it harder for them,” he said.
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