kvi.com · September 6, 2026
Ferguson blames Trump for Medicaid cuts after Washington Democrats slashed health-care funding | 570 KVI
# Ferguson blames Trump for Medicaid cuts after Washington Democrats slashed health-care funding
- September 5, 2026
“WA Republicans attempted multiple times in the last two sessions to fix Democrat’s Medicaid cuts in exchange for eliminating waste and fraud,” Couture continued. “The Democrats said no each time, and not only did they gut healthcare, they also raised taxes on healthcare!” -Rep Travis Couture
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson attacked President Donald Trump over future federal Medicaid reductions Thursday, despite signing state budgets approved by Democratic lawmakers that cut hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicaid reimbursements, hospitals, behavioral health and long-term care while increasing overall state spending.
Ferguson signed an executive order directing state agencies to mitigate provisions of H.R. 1, the federal tax and spending law Trump signed in July 2025.
> Governor Bob Ferguson is a liar > > Washington DEMOCRATS cut $1.2 billion dollars from Medicaid and Apple health during the last legislative cycle so they could fund their reckless spending like trans surgeries for convicted felons. > > Now he is trying to blame President Trump… > > — Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) September 4, 2026
“In the richest country in the world, Donald Trump is kicking the most vulnerable people off their health coverage,” Ferguson said. “The Big Bad Betrayal Bill is devastating to our health care system.”
However, the federal law does not categorically remove “the most vulnerable” Americans from Medicaid. It makes two separate changes that Ferguson’s announcement largely blended together: restricting federally funded Medicaid coverage for certain lawfully present noncitizens and imposing work-verification and more frequent renewal requirements on some working-age adults.
The immigration provision, which takes effect Oct. 1, does not primarily target illegal immigrants, who generally were already ineligible for federally funded full Medicaid coverage. It withdraws federal funding for full coverage from certain legally present groups, including refugees, asylees, trafficking victims, Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners and some parolees.
The restrictions do not apply to every lawfully present immigrant. Qualifying lawful permanent residents, Cuban/Haitian entrants and migrants covered by the Compacts of Free Association remain eligible, as do qualifying children, pregnant women and women receiving postpartum coverage. States may also use their own money to provide coverage for people who no longer qualify for federal matching funds.
Washington previously estimated that approximately 14,000 lawfully present noncitizens would lose Apple Health under the change. The Ferguson administration now claims its outreach helped 3,000 people update their information or transition to an immigration status that allows them to remain eligible, reducing the projected number losing coverage to 11,000.
Ferguson’s team did not provide underlying data demonstrating how it calculated the 3,000 figure or how many of those people would have retained coverage without the state’s intervention.
A separate provision taking effect Jan. 1 applies to certain adults ages 19–64 enrolled through Medicaid expansion, including American citizens and eligible noncitizens. They must demonstrate 80 hours per month of employment, education, job training, community service or another qualifying activity.
The law does not impose that requirement on all Medicaid recipients. Excluded or exempt populations include pregnant women, people with disabilities or serious medical needs, certain caregivers, tribal members, totally disabled veterans, people receiving substance-abuse treatment and qualifying participants in other assistance programs.
Many of the approximately 600,000 Washington adults who may be reviewed under the provision are already working, participating in another qualifying activity or eligible for an exemption.
The law also requires affected expansion adults to renew their eligibility every six months rather than annually. Some people could lose coverage because they are no longer eligible or fail to satisfy the participation standard, while others could be removed because they do not complete the verification process.
Ferguson’s announcement projected that at least 200,000 people will lose Apple Health by the end of 2027, but it did not provide a public breakdown showing how many are expected to become substantively ineligible, how many may fail to comply with the work-related provisions and how many could lose coverage because of paperwork or verification problems.
The governor’s press release also did not mention the health-care reductions enacted by Washington Democrats during the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions—or that the state’s overall operating budget continued to grow.
Republican state Rep. Matt Marshall accused Democrats of attempting to escape responsibility for reductions contained in the state budget.
“WASHINGTON STATE DEMOCRATS CUT $1.2 BILLION FROM MEDICAID AND APPLE HEALTH 2025-26. Now they have the nerve to blame Trump for the damage,” Marshall wrote on X.
> 🔥🔥WASHINGTON STATE DEMOCRATS CUT $1.2 BILLION FROM MEDICAID AND APPLE HEALTH 2025-26.🔥🔥 > > Now they have the nerve to blame Trump for the damage. > > DEMS control the House, Senate, governor’s office, and the state budget. Every one of these cuts was THEIR call. DEMS cut care for… https://t.co/MZMqigUUEF > > — Matt Marshall (@Matt4_Liberty) September 4, 2026
“DEMS control the House, Senate, governor’s office, and the state budget. Every one of these cuts was THEIR call,” he continued. “DEMS cut care for seniors, people with disabilities, people who need long-term care, and the doctors, clinics, and hospitals trying to keep the doors open. Then they ran to the microphones and screamed ‘Trump’ like voters are too dumb to read a budget.”
“Here’s the truth: WASHINGTON DEMOCRATS CUT HEALTHCARE. Dems own the fallout. And now they are using vulnerable Washington patients as political props to cover for their own failure,” Marshall added.
Republican state Rep. Travis Couture made a similar charge, accusing Ferguson and legislative Democrats of cutting care for Washington residents while protecting other spending priorities.
> Gov. Ferguson and WA Democrats cut $1.2 BILLION from Medicaid in WA. Cutting from low income working Washingtonians to fill their budget deficits and continue their spending addiction, fund gender surgeries for trans inmates, fund empty daycares, and gave hundreds of millions… https://t.co/TUP8O4exm3 > > — Travis Couture (@TravisSCouture) September 4, 2026
“Gov. Ferguson and WA Democrats cut $1.2 BILLION from Medicaid in WA,” Couture wrote on X. “Cutting from low income working Washingtonians to fill their budget deficits and continue their spending addiction, fund gender surgeries for trans inmates, fund empty daycares, and gave hundreds of millions more to illegal immigrants. Not to mention his salary increased! None of which was due to HR-1.”
“WA Republicans attempted multiple times in the last two sessions to fix Democrat’s Medicaid cuts in exchange for eliminating waste and fraud,” Couture continued. “The Democrats said no each time, and not only did they gut healthcare, they also raised taxes on healthcare!”
“My Republican budget plan funded healthcare, schools, and public safety while cutting $4 BILLION of waste to begin with, and included NO NEW TAXES,” he added. “The media won’t report on it, it’s up to you to spread the truth.”
“Gov. Ferguson—thy name is ‘morally bankrupt,’” Couture concluded. “Whenever you ‘get to work’ you harm our state, why don’t you just step down.”
The Democratic-controlled Legislature’s 2025–27 operating budget authorized approximately $78 billion in state-account spending and about $150 billio