Should 60 Votes in the Senate Be Required to Reform Medicare or Medicaid? (S. 3330)

What is S. 3330?

(Updated November 16, 2018)

This bill — the Medicare and Medicaid Protection Act of 2018 — would require 60 votes in the Senate to make changes to Medicare or Medicaid, effectively preventing the budget reconciliation process from being used to modify the programs. Specifically, 60 votes would be required to raise the Medicare eligibility age, privatize Medicare or turn it into a voucher system, block grant Medicaid or impose per-capita spending caps on state plans, or to reduce the ability of states to provide health coverage under Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.

Argument in favor

Medicare and Medicaid provide crucial access to healthcare for some of America’s most vulnerable citizens, and they shouldn’t undergo significant reforms without a supermajority vote in the Senate. This bill wisely curbs the use of reconciliation.

Argument opposed

The budget reconciliation process exists to make it easier for Congress to make necessary but politically challenging reforms to the nation’s tax code and mandatory spending programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Its use shouldn’t be curbed.

Impact

Medicare and Medicaid; and the U.S. Senate.

Cost of S. 3330

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) introduced this bill to prevent the budget reconciliation process from being used to enact certain reforms to Medicare and Medicaid:

“For the past 53 years, Medicare and Medicaid have provided a crucial lifeline to hundreds of thousands of Hawaii residents who rely on these programs to access health care and long-term nursing care. But over the past year and a half, Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have tried to gut Medicaid. They began threatening so-called ‘entitlement reform’ — code for Medicare cuts — to rein in debt and deficit even before ramming through budget busting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations. This legislation would protect Medicare, Medicaid, and the millions of Americans who depend on these programs.”

This legislation has the support of 15 cosponsors, all of whom are Democrats.

Media:

• Sponsoring Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) Press Release
  
• California Health Advocates (In Favor)