ISTANBUL

US House Republicans on Thursday faced the tough challenge of cutting $1.5 trillion from the budget — likely including hundreds of billions from Medicaid — to help pay for President Trump's tax cuts, CBS News reported.

While House leaders have insisted that Medicaid, the federal-state health program serving over 70 million low-income people, would not be drastically reduced, it remains unclear how they plan to meet the deep budget cuts approved by Congress earlier this month without significantly reducing Medicaid spending.

The budget resolution tasks the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees both Medicare and Medicaid, with finding at least $880 billion in savings over the next decade.

Since Medicare, which provides health care for seniors, is not being considered for cuts, Medicaid appears to be the main target for achieving those savings.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has warned that reaching such a savings target without touching Medicaid is virtually impossible. Medicaid accounts for 93% of the committee’s non-Medicare mandatory spending, leaving few alternatives.

Other non-Medicare, non-Medicaid programs under the committee’s jurisdiction make up just $581 billion in projected spending over 10 years, meaning even eliminating all of them would still leave the budget savings well short of the $880 billion target, according to the report.

Republican leaders have emphasized their intent to protect benefits for eligible Medicaid recipients and have floated reforms to the program’s structure as a way to cut costs without reducing individual benefits.

“We're going to protect the benefits that everyone is legally entitled to, the beneficiaries who have a legal right to that; it will be preserved,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on April 10.

“Those are essential safety net programs that Republicans support. The president has made clear that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will not take a hit. So, you can count on that,” he added.

Johnson claimed that there are billions of dollars lost to waste, fraud, and abuse in the system and noted that Republicans are exploring the idea of implementing work requirements for Medicaid recipients as a potential solution.

Another idea being considered is shifting a greater share of Medicaid costs to the states that opted to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act.

Currently, 40 states have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

For those expansion enrollees, the federal government covers 90% of the costs, with states covering the remaining 10%. In contrast, for individuals enrolled in traditional Medicaid, the federal share varies by state, ranging from 50% to 83%.