By GARRETT BERGQUIST
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Congresswoman Victoria Spartz said the budget Republicans approved this week won’t lead to cuts in Medicaid or other benefits.
House Republicans have proposed more than $1.5 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years. In an interview with News 8 for All INdiana Politics, Spartz said Republicans will be able to make the cuts they want simply by targeting waste, fraud, and abuse, particularly within the health care system. She said there will be no cuts to programs like Medicare or Medicaid, and spending problems related to those programs stem from problems like hospital overbilling, not the programs themselves.
Spartz
“We need to make sure that Medicaid is good for people with disabilities because they’re losing a lot of services,” Spartz said. “We need to make sure that our seniors get good Medicare. For some reason, everyone gets less services, but prices are doubling.”
Spartz was one of the last Republican holdouts on the budget plan, and was one of several lawmakers President Donald Trump personally called to lobby for the spending plan’s passage. Spartz declined to provide specifics about the call, but said it was a good conversation. She disputed reports Trump “screamed” at her over the phone.
“He’s a normal person you can talk with, actually, and he understands and pays attention,” Spartz said. “This is something unique about him. A lot of politicians here, they just hear what lobbyists and their staff say, he actually pays attention and he cares about delivering.”
The House and Senate are now negotiating on a compromise budget deal through a process known as reconciliation. Spartz said if she’s going to vote for any plan, it would have to address health care costs.
All INdiana Politics airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV.
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/allindianapolitics/spartz-house-gop-budget-wont-lead-to-entitlement-cuts.