--- title: Health Care Bill: Kellyanne Conway Denies Medicaid Cuts description: Kellyanne Conway denied the Senate's version of the Obamacare repeal bill would cut medicaid, even though the draft suggests otherwise. canonical: https://time.com/4832206/kellyanne-conway-health-care-bill-medicaid-cuts/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-25T20:21:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:20:08.026Z article:section: Politics og:title: Kellyanne Conway Says the Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Cut Medicaid. That's Not True og:description: The draft revealed Thursday suggests otherwise og:url: https://time.com/4832206/kellyanne-conway-health-care-bill-medicaid-cuts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45ed2f9b899bd93b/6988d33d0a4a22d3eb9cec96/kellyanne-conway2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4874 og:image:height: 2742 og:image:alt: Kellyanne Conway og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kellyanne Conway Says the Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Cut Medicaid. That's Not True twitter:description: The draft revealed Thursday suggests otherwise twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45ed2f9b899bd93b/6988d33d0a4a22d3eb9cec96/kellyanne-conway2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:29 video:published: 2017-06-26 section: politics topics: Medicaid, Senate health care bill, House health care bill, Medicaid cuts, governor flexibility, White House, presidential promise, health care policy genre: interview, news clip tones: defensive, confrontational, assertive, political emotions: tension (medium), defensiveness (medium), conviction (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: news viewers, political followers, health policy observers, general public people: Kellyanne Conway, George organizations: White House, Senate, House products: Medicaid content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:29]; health controversy [00:00-00:29] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Kellyanne Conway Says the Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Cut Medicaid. That's Not True > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b69449b7-df8a-4fd1-91cd-602203fed460&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Kellyanne Conway Says the Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Cut Medicaid. That's Not True [Watch (HLS stream): Kellyanne Conway Says the Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Cut Medicaid. That's Not True](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/A8oCL1nB.m3u8) (0:29)  _Published 2017-06-26. White House Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway denied that the Senate's health care bill would cut Medicaid, even though the draft revealed Thursday suggests otherwise_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents an exchange in which an interviewer puts to Kellyanne Conway the claim that the Senate health care bill contains even more Medicaid cuts than the House bill, and asks why the president is going back on his promise. Conway answers that the bill does not cut Medicaid but slows its rate of growth for the future. She says governors would gain more flexibility with Medicaid dollars and describes Medicaid's founding purpose. She states the aim is to return Medicaid to its original mooring. ## Key points - The interviewer states the Senate bill has even more Medicaid cuts than the House bill and asks why the president is going back on his promise. (00:00) - Conway says the measures are not cuts to Medicaid and describes them as slowing the rate for the future. (00:05) - Conway says the bill allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars. (00:08) - Conway justifies giving governors flexibility by saying they are closest to the people in need. (00:10) - Conway calls Medicaid imperative and says its founding was meant to help the poor, the sick, the needy and disabled children. (00:13) - Conway lists some elderly people and women, particularly pregnant women, among those Medicaid was meant to help. (00:20) - Conway says the effort is trying to get Medicaid back to its original mooring. (00:24) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:05] Interviewer challenges Medicaid cuts claim. The interviewer asserts the Senate bill has more Medicaid cuts than the House bill and asks why the president is going back on his promise. - [00:05 to 00:13] Conway denies cuts, cites slowed rate. Conway says the changes are not cuts but a slower rate for the future, with more flexibility for governors. - [00:13 to 00:29] Conway describes Medicaid's founding purpose. Conway says Medicaid was founded to help vulnerable groups and that the aim is to return it to its original mooring. ## Key quotes - [00:05] Kellyanne Conway: "These are not cuts to Medicaid, George." - [00:05] Kellyanne Conway: "This slows the rate for the future." - [00:08] Kellyanne Conway: "And it allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars, because they're closest to the people in need." - [00:24] Kellyanne Conway: "We are trying to get Medicaid back to its original mooring." ## Questions this video answers - What is the interviewer's challenge about Medicaid in the Senate bill compared with the House bill? [00:00] - Does Kellyanne Conway say the Senate bill cuts Medicaid? [00:05] - How does Conway characterize the bill's effect on Medicaid's rate going forward? [00:05] - Why does Conway say governors should have more flexibility with Medicaid dollars? [00:08] - Whom does Conway say Medicaid was founded to help? [00:13] - What does Conway say the goal is for Medicaid? [00:24] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:29]: Political interview about a health care bill and Medicaid funding, including a disputed characterization of cuts. - health controversy [00:00-00:29]: Discussion of Medicaid and health care legislation, with the interviewer and guest disagreeing on whether the bill cuts Medicaid.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 25, 2017 8:21 PM UTC White House Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway denied that the Senate's health care bill would cut Medicaid, even though the draft revealed Thursday suggests otherwise  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 25, 2017 8:21 PM UTC [White House](http://time.com/4825181/white-house-jared-kushner-middle-east-israel/) Senior Adviser [Kellyanne Conway](http://time.com/4805631/george-conway-trump-travel-ban-tweet/) denied that the Senate’s health care bill would cut Medicaid, even though the draft revealed Thursday suggests otherwise. “These are not cuts to [Medicaid](http://time.com/4828769/health-care-bill-medicaid-trump-cuts/),”Conway [told George Stephanopoulos](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-25-17-kellyanne-conway-sen-chuck/story?id=48254926) on ABC’s _This Week._ “This slows the rate for the future and it allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars because they’re closest to the people in need.” But the draft of the health care bill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released on Thursday includes steep cuts to Medicaid, aiming to phase out the federal funding implemented under Obamacare for states to expand Medicaid eligibility. The non partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the House version of the bill would cut Medicaid spending by $880 billion, which President Donald Trump [accounted for in his budget. ](http://fortune.com/2017/05/22/donald-trump-white-house-budget/)The CBO is slated to release their analysis of the Senate bill this coming week. Conway said former President Barack Obama had expanded Medicaid in a way that wasn’t always beneficial, and the bill would bring the program back to its “original moorings.” The people who the expansion helped, she said, would initially be grandfathered in but should consider other options. “Obamacare took Medicaid, which was designed to help the poor, the needy, the elderly, the sick, the disabled also children, and pregnant women, it took it and it went way above the poverty line and opened it up to many able-bodied Americans who should probably find other — should at least see if there are other options for them,” she said. “If they’re able-bodied and they want to work, then they’ll have employer-sponsored benefits like you and I do” But the Medicaid cuts proposed in the bill are the reason some Senators have expressed hesitation. West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito said she was[ “evaluating” the bill](http://fortune.com/2017/06/23/healthcare-bill-female-gop-senators/) to ensure it wouldn’t adversely affect her constituents, half a million of whom are on Medicaid. And Nevada Senator Dean Heller, who said on Friday that he [could not support the bill ](http://time.com/4831260/health-care-bill-dean-heller-gop-senator/?iid=sr-link1)in its current form, cited Medicaid cuts as a chief concern. “I have made clear that I want to make sure the rug is not pulled out from under Nevada or the more than 200,000 Nevadans who received insurance for the first time under Medicaid expansion,” Heller said in a statement after the bill was released. ## Transcript [00:00] This bill has even more Medicaid cuts than the House [00:02] bill. Why is the president going back on his promise? [00:05] These are not cuts to Medicaid, George. This slows the [00:08] rate for the future. And it allows governors more [00:10] flexibility with Medicaid dollars, because they're closest [00:13] to the people in need. Medicaid's imperative. Its [00:17] founding was meant to help the poor, the sick, the [00:20] needy, the disabled children, some elderly, women, [00:24] particularly pregnant women. We are trying to get [00:27] Medicaid back to its original mooring. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4832206/kellyanne-conway-health-care-bill-medicaid-cuts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4832206/kellyanne-conway-health-care-bill-medicaid-cuts/"},"headline":"Kellyanne Conway Says the Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Cut Medicaid. 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