Trump blocks $4.9B in foreign aid Congress OK’d, using maneuver last seen nearly 50 years ago

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By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has told House Speaker Mike Johnson that he won’t be spending $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch.

Trump, who sent a letter to Johnson, R-La., on Thursday, is using what’s known as a pocket rescission — when a president submits a request to Congress to not spend approved funds toward the end of the fiscal year, so that Congress cannot act on the request in the 45-day timeframe and the money goes unspent as a result. It’s the first time in nearly 50 years a president has used one. The fiscal year draws to a close at the end of September.

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The letter was posted Friday morning on the X account of the White House Office of Management and Budget. It said the funding would be cut from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, an early target of Trump’s efforts to cut foreign aid.

The last pocket rescission was in 1977 by then-President Jimmy Carter, and the Trump administration argues that it’s a legally permissible tool. But such a move, if standardized by the White House, could effectively bypass Congress on key spending choices and potentially wrest some control over spending from the House and the Senate.

The 1974 Impoundment Control Act gives the president the authority to propose canceling funds approved by Congress. Congress can vote on pulling back the funds or sustaining them, but by proposing the rescission so close to Sept. 30 the White House ensures that the money won’t be spent and the funding lapses.

Trump had previously sought to get congressional backing for rescissions and succeeded in doing so in July when the House and the Senate approved $9 billion worth of cuts. Those rescissions clawed back funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid.

The Trump administration has made deep reductions to foreign aid one of its hallmark policies, despite the relatively meager savings relative to the deficit and possible damage to America’s reputation abroad as foreign populations lose access to food supplies and development programs.

In February, the administration said it would eliminate almost all of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance abroad. USAID has since been dismantled, and its few remaining programs have been placed under State Department control.

The Trump administration on Wednesday appealed to the Supreme Court to stop lower court decisions that have preserved foreign aid, including for global health and HIV and AIDS programs, that Trump has tried to freeze.

The New York Post first reported the pocket rescission.

Enjoy epic adventures in Colorado’s quadrant of the Four Corners

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Colorado’s southwest corner blends fascinating ancient history, rugged desert landscapes, and fun outdoor adventure.

While Mesa Verde National Park is the crown jewel, the region also includes other centuries-old sites and a plethora of outdoor experiences.

As an avid adventurer and ancient history buff, I’ve explored the region extensively.

Here’s how you can immerse yourself in Colorado’s quadrant of the Four Corners, where you can hike by cliff dwellings, bike through desert terrain, and sip wine in a scenic canyon.

Stay in Mancos

Settled by cattle ranchers in the 1870s and founded in 1894, Mancos is a vibrant, tiny town once a stop on the Denver, Rio & Southern Railway. Two great options for your basecamp are:

Mesa Verde Motel: This boutique motel has an ultra-modern twist. On-site M Bar & Coffee serves lattes in the morning and handcrafted cocktails later, which you can enjoy around the fire pit in the evenings.

Willowtail Springs Nature Preserve and Education Center: This peaceful retreat has several uniquely appointed cabins overlooking a serene lake. Artists-in-residence are often there.

Day One:  Mesa Verde National Park

Grab a latte and burrito at M Bar & Coffee before heading to Mesa Verde National Park.

Make stops to soak in the views along the 45-minute drive up the mesa. From Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, hike my favorite trail in the park.

The 2.4-mile Petroglyph Point Trail is a loop showcasing sweeping canyon views and ancient rock carvings, including a large petroglyph panel.

Mesa Verde National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. (Photo by Jennifer Broome/Special to The Denver Post)

Of the two auto loops, drive the Cliff Palace Loop first. Stop at Cliff Palace overlook for an incredible view of North America’s largest known cliff dwelling, built between 1190 and 1280.

Typically less crowded, Mesa Top Loop has interesting stops to see pithouses, Navajo Canyon, and the Sun Temple.

For an in-depth experience, book a ranger-led tour in advance. If you’re OK with climbing wooden ladders and uneven stone steps, the Cliff Palace Tour takes you close to the ancient community with at least 150 rooms and 21 kivas.

Other ranger-led tours are Balcony House and Square Tower House.

Mesa Verde National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. (Photo by Jennifer Broome/Special to The Denver Post)

Unwind with dinner at The Boathouse on Grand. The cozy restaurant in the heart of Mancos serves elevated cuisine, highlighting seasonal local ingredients.

Day Two: Mountain biking, monument and wine tasting

Fuel up for the day with a hearty breakfast at Moondog Café and Bakery and grab some goodies from their bakery for later. Pedal your way atop a desert mesa mountain biking at Phil’s World. The singletrack system is known for its flowy terrain and rollercoaster-like dips.

Phil’s World is a singletrack system is known for its flowy terrain and rollercoaster-like dips. (Photo by Jennifer Broome/Special to The Denver Post)

Take a short drive to see Colorado’s least-visited National Park Service site. Surrounded by sprawling farmland, Yucca House National Monument is an unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan site.

You’ll likely have the half-mile trail to yourself as you explore a site virtually untouched for over 800 years. Some masonry is visible of the “Lower House.”

Wander to the “Upper House,” rising 15-20 feet in the West Complex, for a wonderful view of the pastoral surroundings.

Next, take a scenic trip through nearby McElmo Canyon, filled with unmarked rock art and ancient sites.

A green oasis in the rugged landscape, Sutcliffe Vineyards is a well-earned relaxing stop at one of my favorite Colorado wineries. Sip a Viognier or a Cabernet Franc under a vine-covered pergola with a view of Battle Rock.

Sutcliffe Vineyards is a well-earned relaxing stop where you can sip a Viognier or a Cabernet Franc under a vine-covered pergola with a view of Battle Rock. (Photo by Jennifer Broome/Special to The Denver Post)

Finish the day with an early dinner at The Farm Bistro in Cortez with locally sourced produce and meat from Montezuma County for a farm-to-table dining experience. Start with their zucchini fritters, then devour a yak burger, scratch-made chicken pot pie, or seasonal risotto. The lounge features all-Colorado beer, wine, and spirits.

Day Three: Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep

With the highest known density of archeological sites in the United States, spending one day in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument scratches the surface of its 174,000 acres.

There are more than 8,300 recorded sites, from cliff dwellings to sacred springs, and the number is estimated to be as high as 30,000 as archaeological discoveries continue.

For a full day, start with a hike from the Sand Canyon south trailhead in McElmo Canyon.

Keep your eyes peeled for dwellings, as many are not marked.

Head west to Hovenweep National Monument for more archeological wonders on the Colorado-Utah border.

From the visitor center in Utah, hike the Little Ruin Trail. This 1.5-mile loop passes some of the monument’s most striking features: the Square Tower, Twin Towers, and Rim Rock House, which showcase the architectural ingenuity of the Ancestral Puebloans.

Exploring Hovenweep provides a more secluded experience (Photo by Jennifer Broome/Special to The Denver Post)

For a more secluded experience in Hovenweep, hike to Painted Hand Pueblo in the Cutthroat Castle Group. Precariously perched on a boulder, it gets its name from pictographs of handprints.

Looping back towards Cortez, explore the Holly Unit of Canyons of the Ancients. Hiking to the remote cluster of ruins affords you an off-the-beaten-path experience where you can reflect on the history and solitude of the region.

Hiking the Sand Canyon Trail provides stunning views of the Ancestral Puebloan ruins and unique landscape. (Photo by Jennifer Broome/Special to The Denver Post)

It’s one of my favorite areas of the national monument. If you’re up for additional late-day hiking, head to Sand Canyon Pueblo, where you can see the remains of 420 rooms, 100 kivas, and 14 towers.

One of the easiest sites to reach is Lowery Pueblo, the only developed recreation site within the national monument.

Marvel at the architecture and design as you walk in and out of 40 rooms and eight kivas. I like to close my eyes in the Great Kiva, imagining a ceremony. It’s a perfect last stop on this loop exploring ancient sites.

You’ll likely be worn out, so opt for a casual spot for dinner. Loungin’ Lizard, La Casita de Cortez, and Thai Cortez are great options in Cortez.

Back in Mancos, El Río Cantina or Mancos Brewing Company are excellent choices for casual fare.

Bonus adventures

If you’re like me and love this unique corner of Colorado, here are three more must-dos in the region to take your next visit to the next level.

Stay at Canyon of the Ancients Guest Ranch: This boutique guest ranch in McElmo Canyon offers unique accommodations, from the cozy Cowboy Log Cabin to the intimate Sky Kiva.

This boutique guest ranch in McElmo Canyon offers unique accommodations, from the cozy Cowboy Log Cabin to the intimate Sky Kiva. (Photo by Jennifer Broome/Special to The Denver Post)

Explore Ute Mountain Tribal Park: The only way to visit is on a guided tour with a rugged hike to see cliff dwellings.

Visit Crow Canyon Archaeological Center: Indulge your inner archaeologist while learning about ongoing regional research. You can even volunteer for a hands-on opportunity.

Southwest Colorado’s slice of the Four Corners is truly where ancient history meets modern adventure.

Have fun exploring this extraordinary region.

10 years in, and ‘Hamilton’ is still downright revolutionary

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I streamed “Hamilton” earlier this month — in fact, on Aug. 6, the day the musical celebrated its 10th birthday — compelled by my partner’s confession of never having seen the smash Broadway show (gasp!).

He later admitted to being surprised by how much he enjoyed it. I found it nearly as exciting, as thrilling as when I first saw the production, from a high balcony seat in the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in October 2017.

Except that this time, I knew all the words to the songs. (To an obnoxious degree.)

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean … . 

The way I look at it, you’re either a hard-core fan of the Lin-Manuel Miranda creation, or … you’re wrong.

The proof is in the numbers: the hip-hop musical won 11 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for drama after its debut, among dozens of other accolades.

Ayo I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry, I am not throwing away my shot … .

And even after a decade, “Hamilton” (based on a 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow) is as fresh — as revolutionary — in subsequent viewings to me because, above all, it entertains. Hard.

I remember that after that New York performance, I sat stunned at what I had just witnessed, then being jarred back to my senses by the roar of the standing ovation. Wow.

I’ve been a Broadway series subscriber at the Denver Center for decades, and no other performance before or since has had me so, well, high on the art. When the national touring company performed “Hamilton” at the Buell Theater in Denver in 2018, and again in 2024, I was there. When it came to Disney+ in 2020, of course I got a subscription so I could revisit the magic. (Yes, I used the word “magic” and Disney in the same sentence.)

And every time, I am driven anew to read up on the facts behind the man and the history. Some things you may not know about “Hamilton”:

It took Miranda about seven years to write the lyrics and music for the smash Broadway musical, and a full year to write one song: “My Shot.”
Ariana DeBose played The Bullet in the original cast, including the off-Broadway version.
Hamilton did, in fact, advise his son to not fire his weapon in the duel that led to the 19-year-old’s death.
George Eacker, who fired that fatal shot, died of tuberculosis two years later, at the age of 29.
Hamilton and his wife, Eliza Schuyler, had eight children. Their second child, Angelica, suffered a breakdown after Philip’s death and spent the rest of her life in an asylum.
Miranda earns a 3% royalty every time “Hamilton” is performed. He currently is worth about $80 million.
Miranda played Hamilton in the musical on Broadway for less than a year, starting with its debut in 2015.
Despite its popularity, “Hamilton” is not the highest-grossing Broadway show of all time. That honor goes to “The Lion King.”
Hercules Mulligan, Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens and the Marquis de Lafayette didn’t actually meet at the same time in a pub in 1776, as depicted in the musical. (“Raise a glass to the four of us, tomorrow there’ll be more of us.”) Hamilton met Mulligan three years earlier, and likely was introduced to both Lafayette and Laurens after 1777.
While it’s hard to tell from “Hamilton,” the American Revolution lasted eight years.
Aaron Burr was the grandson of theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards.
Hamilton did engage in flirtatious correspondence with Angelica Schuyler, the sister of his wife, Eliza. (The cad.)

Are there problems with “Hamilton”? Sure. Critics accused Miranda of downplaying the role of slavery and of glorifying the founding fathers who supported it. While many lauded him for casting Blacks as major characters (Washington, Mulligan, Lafayette, Angelica Schuyler and Thomas Jefferson, for example), others, like Cheryn Hong of The Michigan Daily, said “Hamilton” takes the “talent and music from Black culture to tell a story of white men.”

Historical inaccuracies are also brought up, such as that there is no inkling that Hamilton, who once worked on a slave ship, was actually against slavery at all (in fact, few whites of the time came out against the heinous practice). While the musical implies that he was pro-immigration, his support for the Alien and Sedition Acts (which restricted immigration and citizenship) weakens that argument.

So much for the most humorous line: “Immigrants, we get the job done.”

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However, one common complaint is a stretch: that the female characters are only there to support the men. Um, it was the 1700s, remember? (I thought Miranda did his best to give Angelica Schuyler opinions and grit, for what it’s worth.)

The New York Times recently called “Hamilton” “the Broadway hit that coupled hip-hop music with the Founding Fathers — an unlikely pairing that forever changed ticket prices and spurred an era of race-conscious casting.”

Soon, as part of the 10-year celebration, fans can see the musical — recorded with nine cameras and more than 100 microphones, according to The Times — on the big screen as it hits theaters nationwide on Sept. 5.

And I will likely be there. Because, when it comes to “Hamilton” — and taking the liberty (get it?) to paraphrase King George III — I’ll love you ’til my dying days.

Native Americans want to avoid past Medicaid enrollment snafus as work requirements loom

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By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, KFF Health News

Jonnell Wieder earned too much money at her job to keep her Medicaid coverage when the COVID-19 public health emergency ended in 2023 and states resumed checking whether people were eligible for the program. But she was reassured by the knowledge that Medicaid would provide postpartum coverage for her and her daughter, Oakleigh McDonald, who was born in July of that year.

Wieder is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana and can access some health services free of charge through her tribe’s health clinics. But funding is limited, so, like a lot of Native American people, she relied on Medicaid for herself and Oakleigh.

Months before Oakleigh’s 1st birthday, the date when Wieder’s postpartum coverage would come to an end, Wieder completed and returned paperwork to enroll her daughter in Healthy Montana Kids, the state’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. But her paperwork, caught up in the lengthy delays and processing times for applications, did not go through.

“As soon as she turned 1, they cut her off completely,” Wieder said.

It took six months for Wieder to get Oakleigh covered again through Healthy Montana Kids. Before health workers in her tribe stepped in to help her resubmit her application, Wieder repeatedly called the state’s health department. She said she would dial the call center when she arrived at her job in the morning and go about her work while waiting on hold, only for the call to be dropped by the end of the day.

“Never did I talk to anybody,” she said.

Wieder and Oakleigh’s experience is an example of the chaos for eligible Medicaid beneficiaries caused by the process known as the “unwinding,” which led to millions of people in the U.S. losing coverage due to paperwork or other procedural issues. Now, tribal health leaders fear their communities will experience more health coverage disruptions when new federal Medicaid work and eligibility requirements are implemented by the start of 2027.

The tax-and-spending law that President Donald Trump signed this summer exempts Native Americans from the new requirement that some people work or do another qualifying activity a minimum number of hours each month to be eligible for Medicaid, as well as from more frequent eligibility checks. But as Wieder and her daughter’s experience shows, they are not exempt from getting caught up in procedural disenrollments that could reemerge as states implement the new rules.

“We also know from the unwinding that that just doesn’t always play out necessarily correctly in practice,” said Joan Alker, who leads Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. “There’s a lot to worry about.”

The new law is projected to increase the number of people who are uninsured by 10 million.

The lessons of the unwinding suggest that “deep trouble” lies ahead for Native Americans who rely on Medicaid, according to Alker.

Changes to Medicaid

Trump’s new law changes Medicaid rules to require some recipients ages 19 to 64 to log 80 hours of work or other qualifying activities per month. It also requires states to recheck those recipients’ eligibility every six months, instead of annually. Both of these changes will be effective by the end of next year.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in July that the law would reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion over a decade. In addition, more than 4 million people enrolled in health plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace are projected to become uninsured if Congress allows pandemic-era enhanced premium tax credits to expire at the end of the year.

Wieder said she was lucky that the tribe covered costs and her daughter’s care wasn’t interrupted in the six months she didn’t have health insurance. Citizens of federally recognized tribes in the U.S. can access some free health services through the Indian Health Service, the federal agency responsible for providing health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

But free care is limited because Congress has historically failed to fully fund the Indian Health Service. Tribal health systems rely heavily on Medicaid to fill that gap. Native Americans are enrolled in Medicaid at higher rates than the white population and have higher rates of chronic illnesses, die more from preventable diseases, and have less access to care.

Medicaid is the largest third-party payer to the Indian Health Service and other tribal health facilities and organizations. Accounting for about two-thirds of the outside revenue the Indian Health Service collects, it helps tribal health organizations pay their staff, maintain or expand services, and build infrastructure. Tribal leaders say protecting Medicaid for Indian Country is a responsibility Congress and the federal government must fulfill as part of their trust and treaty obligations to tribes.

Lessons Learned During the Unwinding

The Trump administration prevented states from disenrolling most Medicaid recipients for the duration of the public health emergency starting in 2020. After those eligibility checks resumed in 2023, nearly 27 million people nationwide were disenrolled from Medicaid during the unwinding, according to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office published in June. The majority of disenrollments — about 70% — occurred for procedural reasons, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

CMS did not require state agencies to collect race and ethnicity data for their reporting during the unwinding, making it difficult to determine how many Native American and Alaska Native enrollees lost coverage.

The lack of data to show how the unwinding affected the population makes it difficult to identify disparities and create policies to address them, said Latoya Hill, senior policy manager with KFF’s Racial Equity and Health Policy program. KFF is a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

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The National Council of Urban Indian Health, which advocates on public health issues for Native Americans living in urban parts of the nation, analyzed the Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey and KFF data in an effort to understand how disenrollment affected tribes. The council estimated more than 850,000 Native Americans had lost coverage as of May 2024. About 2.7 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives were enrolled in Medicaid in 2022, according to the council.

The National Indian Health Board, a nonprofit that represents and advocates for federally recognized tribes, has been working with federal Medicaid officials to ensure that state agencies are prepared to implement the exemptions.

“We learned a lot of lessons about state capacity during the unwinding,” said Winn Davis, congressional relations director for the National Indian Health Board.

Nevada health officials say they plan to apply lessons learned during the unwinding and launch a public education campaign on the Medicaid changes in the new federal law. “A lot of this will depend on anticipated federal guidance regarding the implementation of those new rules,” said Stacie Weeks, director of the Nevada Health Authority.

Staff at the Fallon Tribal Health Center in Nevada have become authorized representatives for some of their patients. This means that tribal citizens’ Medicaid paperwork is sent to the health center, allowing staff to notify individuals and help them fill it out.

Davis said the unwinding process showed that Native American enrollees are uniquely vulnerable to procedural disenrollment. The new law’s exemption of Native Americans from work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks is the “bare minimum” to ensure unnecessary disenrollments are avoided as part of trust and treaty obligations, Davis said.

Eligibility Checks Are ‘Complex’ and ‘Vulnerable to Error’

The GAO said the process of determining whether individuals are eligible for Medicaid is “complex” and “vulnerable to error” in a 2024 report on the unwinding.

“The resumption of Medicaid eligibility redeterminations on such a large scale further compounded this complexity,” the report said.

It highlighted weaknesses across state systems. By April 2024, federal Medicaid officials had found nearly all states were out of compliance with redetermination requirements, according to the GAO. Eligible people lost their coverage, the accountability office said, highlighting the need to improve federal oversight.

In Texas, for example, federal Medicaid officials found that 100,000 eligible people had been disenrolled due to, for example, the state system’s failure to process their completed renewal forms or miscalculation of the length of women’s postpartum coverage.

Some states were not conducting ex parte renewals, in which a person’s Medicaid coverage is automatically renewed based on existing information available to the state. That reduces the chance that paperwork is sent to the wrong address, because the recipient doesn’t need to complete or return renewal forms.

But poorly conducted ex parte renewals can lead to procedural disenrollments, too. More than 100,000 people in Nevada were disenrolled by September 2023 through the ex parte process. The state had been conducting the ex parte renewals at the household level, rather than by individual beneficiary, resulting in the disenrollment of still-eligible children because their parents were no longer eligible. Ninety-three percent of disenrollments in the state were for procedural reasons — the highest in the nation, according to KFF.

Another issue the federal agency identified was that some state agencies were not giving enrollees the opportunity to submit their renewal paperwork through all means available, including mail, phone, online, and in person.

State agencies also identified challenges they faced during the unwinding, including an unprecedented volume of eligibility redeterminations, insufficient staffing and training, and a lack of response from enrollees who may not have been aware of the unwinding.

Native Americans and Alaska Natives have unique challenges in maintaining their coverage.

Communities in rural parts of the nation experience issues with receiving and sending mail. Some Native Americans on reservations may not have street addresses. Others may not have permanent housing or change addresses frequently. In Alaska, mail service is often disrupted by severe weather. Another issue is the lack of reliable internet service on remote reservations.

Tribal health leaders and patient benefit coordinators said some tribal citizens did not receive their redetermination paperwork or struggled to fill it out and send it back to their state Medicaid agency.

The Aftermath

Although the unwinding is over, many challenges persist.

Tribal health workers in Montana, Oklahoma, and South Dakota said some eligible patients who lost Medicaid during the unwinding had still not been reenrolled as of this spring.

“Even today, we’re still in the trenches of getting individuals that had been disenrolled back onto Medicaid,” said Rachel Arthur, executive director of the Indian Family Health Clinic in Great Falls, Montana, in May.

Arthur said staff at the clinic realized early in the unwinding that their patients were not receiving their redetermination notices in the mail. The clinic is identifying people who fell off Medicaid during the unwinding and helping them fill out applications.

Marlena Farnes, who was a patient benefit coordinator at the Indian Family Health Clinic during the Medicaid unwinding, said she tried for months to help an older patient with a chronic health condition get back on Medicaid. He had completed and returned his paperwork but still received a notice that his coverage had lapsed. After many calls to the state Medicaid office, Farnes said, state officials told her the patient’s application had been lost.

Another patient went to the emergency room multiple times while uninsured, Arthur said.

“I felt like if our patients weren’t helped with follow-up, and that advocacy piece, their applications were not being seen,” Farnes said. She is now the behavioral health director at the clinic.

Montana was one of five states where more than 50% of enrollees lost coverage during the unwinding, according to the GAO. The other states are Idaho, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. About 68% of Montanans who lost coverage were disenrolled for procedural reasons.

In Oklahoma, eligibility redeterminations remain challenging to process, said Yvonne Myers, a Medicaid and Affordable Care Act consultant for Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services. That’s causing more frequent coverage lapses, she said.

Myers said she thinks Republican claims of “waste, fraud, and abuse” are overstated.

“I challenge some of them to try to go through an eligibility process,” Myers said. “The way they’re going about it is making it for more hoops to jump through, which ultimately will cause people to fall off.”

The unwinding showed that state systems can struggle to respond quickly to changes in Medicaid, leading to preventable erroneous disenrollments. Individuals were often in the dark about their applications and struggled to reach state offices for answers. Tribal leaders and health experts are raising concerns that those issues will continue and worsen as states implement the requirements of the new law.

Georgia, the only state with an active Medicaid work requirement program, has shown that the changes can be difficult for individuals to navigate and costly for a state to implement. More than 100,000 people have applied for Georgia’s Pathways program, but only about 8,600 were enrolled as of the end of July.

Alker, of Georgetown, said Congress took the wrong lesson from the unwinding in adding more restrictions and red tape.

“It will make unwinding pale in comparison in terms of the number of folks that are going to lose coverage,” Alker said.

This article was published with the support of the Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) Health Journalism Fellowship, assisted by grants from The Commonwealth Fund.

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.