Republicans’ Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires law currently scheduled to trigger over $500 billion in mandatory Medicare cuts
Pawtucket, RI – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse this morning joined Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien, Rhode Island Office of Healthy Aging Director Maria Cimini, and dozens of seniors at the Leon Mathieu Senior Center in Pawtucket to put a spotlight on the hidden Medicare cuts resulting from Republicans’ Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires law.
“Republicans’ Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires bill is set to trigger automatic cuts to Medicare over the next decade and jeopardize our already-fragile health care system,” said Whitehouse. “This has always been the Republican playbook – run up deficits with tax breaks for the rich and corporations and then call for cuts to health care in the name of ‘fiscal responsibility.’ I’m committed to doing everything I can to head off Republicans’ senseless Medicare cuts and to fix our health care system so that it actually works for more people – not fewer.”
“Republicans’ Big, Ugly law just keeps getting worse. Thanks to Senator Whitehouse we now know Trump’s law will force $536 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade to pay for a tax giveaway for the wealthiest in our country,” said Congressman Gabe Amo, a member of the House Committee on the Budget. “This is another example of a broken promise from Republicans who are betraying the American people and disrupting health care across Rhode Island and the entire nation.”
“Many of our Pawtucket seniors rely on Medicare,” said Mayor Donald Grebien. “I am proud to stand with Senator Whitehouse today to highlight hidden Medicare cuts that will hurt Pawtucket seniors and to advocate for the funding needed to protect the critical healthcare services, from doctor and hospital visits to prescription drug coverage, that Medicare provides for our seniors.”
“At the Office of Healthy Aging, our mission is to ensure Rhode Islanders can grow older with health, dignity, and connection. Medicare is a cornerstone of that vision,” said Maria Cimini, Director of Rhode Island’s Office of Healthy Aging. “It is both a lifeline and a promise and we are committed to providing free, unbiased guidance to all older Rhode Islanders seeking this critical support and protecting it so older adults and people with disabilities can live with security, purpose, and possibility.”
Last month, President Trump and Congressional Republicans jammed through their Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires bill, which cuts almost a trillion dollars from Medicaid and raises health insurance costs, all to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.
The new law also included a hidden cut to Medicare, which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed to Whitehouse in a letter on Friday. By adding $4.1 trillion to the national debt, the legislation automatically triggers the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act, which will impose $536 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare over the next decade unless Congress takes bipartisan action.
The CBO letter explains that the Republicans’ Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires Law will increase deficits relative to the January 2025 baseline by $2.1 trillion through 2029 and by $3.4 trillion through 2034. The law’s addition to the deficit triggers the sequestration process under the Statutory PAYGO Act.
CBO estimates that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be required to issue a sequestration order to reduce spending by a total of $415 billion in fiscal year 2026, including a four percent sequestration cut to Medicare, which is expected to cut $45 billion in 2026 and total of $536 billion over nine years. Republicans could pass legislation waiving the PAYGO requirements, but did not include such a measure in the Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires Law.
As Congressional Republicans make budget-busting giveaways for their billionaire campaign donors, Whitehouse is pushing to make the tax code fair and protect the programs seniors rely on. Whitehouse is working to pass his legislation to protect the solvency of Medicare and Social Security as far as the eye can see simply by having the nation’s highest earners start contributing their fair share.
