Scott Bessent Schools CNN On What’s Happening With Medicaid: ‘Funding Will Go Up’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back on Sunday when CNN’s Dana Bash said the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” would result in cuts to Medicaid.

“Only in DC is a 20% hike over 10 years a cut,” said Bessent. “Medicaid funding will go up 20% over the next 10 years. The people who Medicaid was designed for – the pregnant women, the disabled, and families with children under 14 – will be refocused.”

The Treasury secretary said that those who stand to lose benefits are those that do not qualify as “vulnerable.”

“Able-bodied Americans are not vulnerable Americans, so a work requirement or a community service requirement, that’s very popular with the public, and many state programs have that now,” he said.

Bash said that regardless of whether or not the American people generally support some work requirements for Medicaid, the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” is still a broken promise by President Donald Trump because “the president promised that there would not be changes to Medicaid benefits.”

“There is no change in benefits. There’s a change in requirements to get the benefits,” Bessent corrected her. The secretary continued that with the administration’s focus on bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States and curbing illegal immigration, jobs will be available for Americans willing to work.

Bessent went on to accuse Democrats of infantilizing Medicaid recipients by claiming new registration requirements will be too much for them to handle.

It is a group of Democrats who unfortunately seem to think that poor people are stupid. I don’t think poor people are stupid. I think they have agency, and I think to have them registered twice a year for these benefits, that is not a burden,” the secretary said. “But these people who want to infantilize the poor and those who need these Medicaid benefits are alarmists.”

Bessent on Medicaid cuts: "The able-bodied Americans are not vulnerable Americans … people can get off Medicaid and get a job that has good healthcare benefits … I don't think poor people are stupid. I think they have agency." pic.twitter.com/raDM6GQEOU

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 6, 2025

Trump signed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” into law on Independence Day. The nearly 900-page reconciliation bill may be the defining legislative achievement of his second term.

The legislation includes reforms to Medicaid, as well as new funding for administration priorities such as border security and national defense. The legislation also promotes fossil fuel development while cutting tax credits for green energy and electric vehicles.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who played a key role in shepherding the legislation through the House, has been optimistic about the bill’s popularity with the American public. Johnson said over the weekend that the GOP will make a point of campaigning on the bill’s passage ahead of midterm elections.

“Our Republicans are going to be out across the country telling the simple truth, and guess what? It will be demonstrated. Everyone will have more take home pay. They’ll have more jobs and opportunity. The economy will be doing better. And we will be able to point to that as the obvious result of what we did,” Johnson said.