A Republican Senator is being ridiculed online for stating that the millions of people that will be removed from Medicaid if President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” passes will then transition to employer-provided healthcare.
Oklahoma Senator James Lankford appeared on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ in conversation with host Rebecca Quick on Thursday, where he discussed the potential impacts of the Trump-back GOP spending bill.
“People are screaming and saying, ‘It’s kicking people off Medicaid.’ It’s not kicking people off Medicaid. It’s transitioning from Medicaid to employer-provided healthcare. So yes, we’ve got 10 million people that are not gonna be on Medicaid, but they then are gonna be on employer-provided healthcare,” said Lankford.
Lankford: “People are screaming and saying, ‘It’s kicking people off Medicaid.’ It’s not kicking people off Medicaid. It’s transitioning from Medicaid to employer-provided healthcare. So yes, we’ve got 10 million people that are not gonna be on Medicaid, but they then are gonna… pic.twitter.com/PkQHalchgK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 5, 2025
Social media users reacted incredulously, mocking Lankford for assuming that millions of people would immediately have access to employer provided healthcare options.
“Do the employers who don’t provide health insurance know??” said one user.
Do the employers who don’t provide health insurance know??
— M. Resisted (@AngryFedupVtr) June 5, 2025
“Except when your minimum wage job has no healthcare,” said another.
Except when your minimum wage job has no healthcare.
— Tardis_lass (@Heathfeath45) June 5, 2025
“So it’s kicking people off medicaid,” wrote a third.
So it’s kicking people off medicaid
— Deanna 🐿️ (@FkgExhausted) June 5, 2025
“That’s IF the employer provides healthcare that is affordable! These are working poor who live paycheck to paycheck and have little left to afford healthcare!” concurred a fourth.
That’s IF the employer provides healthcare that is affordable! These are working poor who live paycheck to paycheck and have little left to afford healthcare!
— Ken Klinkner (@SeptemberMorn23) June 5, 2025
Lankford, who is a member of the Finance Committee, met with Trump to discuss the tax and spending bill on Wednesday. He continued to outline what exactly legislators discussed with Trump in the meeting.
“About a two hour conversation about what’s happening on taxes, what are agreements going to be, what direction we’re going to try and take. It was broad in many areas. The House has already passed their piece, the Senate has got to pass our piece then that’s going to line up with the House and the President has got to sign. It’s very important that we align all three right now, so it was a coordination meeting yesterday quite frankly,” said Lankford.
Originally published on Latin Times
