GOP Sen. Joni Ernst on Friday faced concerns from town hall attendees over potential cuts to Medicaid and SNAP programs as a result of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, saying at one point, “Well, we all are going to die,” and insisting that those who are eligible for Medicaid will continue to receive payments.
One audience member at the meeting in Parkersburg, Iowa, raised concern that changes in the legislation to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as food stamps are formally known, could harm local economies and cost jobs. Ernst, in response, emphasized that those who are in the country illegally or do not qualify for the programs under current law will be removed as recipients from the rolls.
When someone in the audience yelled out, “People will die,” Ernst replied, “People are not – Well, we all are going to die.”
The comment drew sizable reaction from the crowd.
Ernst went on to say, “For heaven’s sakes, folks. OK … What you don’t want to do is listen to me when I say that we’re going to focus on those that are most vulnerable. Those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, we will protect. We will protect them.”
Ernst was among the few Republican lawmakers who held town hall meetings during Congress’ recess this week. Those meetings – the first since the House GOP passed its version of the sweeping tax and spending cuts bill – have featured a steady drumbeat of questions related to the package and its Medicaid provisions.
The Senate is preparing to take up – and is expected make changes to – the House-passed version of the bill when lawmakers return to Washington. Changes to Medicaid eligibility have become a flashpoint in debate over the legislation, with several GOP senators warning that they don’t want to see their constituents lose coverage.
Discussing the House’s version of the bill, Ernst said, “Some people currently on Medicaid would not be able to receive Medicaid,” but she argued, “That’s because they’re not currently eligible by the original definition of Medicaid, and they will be moved off of those Medicaid rolls.”
“When we are talking about the corrections in this reconciliation bill — again, it’s corrections of overpayments and people that have not been eligible for these programs by law as it is currently written,” she continued, as audience members began to shout over her.
“If you don’t want to listen, that’s fine,” Ernst later added, “but what I’m doing is going through and telling you that those that are not eligible, those that are working and have opportunities for benefits elsewhere, they should receive those benefits elsewhere and leave those dollars for those that are eligible for Medicaid.”
In response to a request for comment on the exchange, which was swiftly seized on by critics of the proposed changes, a spokesperson for Ernst said: “While Democrats fearmonger against strengthening the integrity of Medicaid, Senator Ernst is focused on improving the lives of all Iowans.”
“There’s only two certainties in life: death and taxes, and she’s working to ease the burden of both by fighting to keep more of Iowans’ hard-earned tax dollars in their own pockets and ensuring their benefits are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse,” the spokesperson continued.
The House version of the bill would institute work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, a longtime GOP goal.
It would also reduce federal support for Medicaid by nearly $700 billion over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis. However, House Republicans made several changes to the legislation before final passage in the chamber, which were not evaluated in this CBO report – including moving up the timeline so that the requirement will take effect by the end of 2026.
The legislation would additionally extend the work requirement for SNAP to those ages 55 to 64, as well as to parents of children between the ages of 7 and 18. Plus it would curtail states’ ability to receive work requirement waivers in difficult economic times, limiting them only to counties with unemployment rates above 10%.
CNN’s Tami Luhby contributed to this report.
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