With the House approving a plan to slash $880 billion from the federal budget, all eyes are turning to Medicaid as the most likely source of cuts. I asked former North Carolina Health Secretary Kody Kinsley, KFF’s Larry Levitt and California Health Care Foundation’s Katie Heidorn to join me to discuss the likely shape and impact of proposed cuts, and take questions from UC Berkeley students.

Kody called it a “self-licking ice cream cone”—cuts that destabilize the government, leading to further cuts. Larry warned of formula battles that will soon erupt. Katie laid out the devastating effects on state budgets.

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Watch the full VIDEO version of this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X110GShMTtE&t=52s

Relevant Links

• KFF: The Public’s View on Potential Changes to Medicaid
• KFF: Impact of Medicaid Per Capita Cap
• Kody Kinsley testimony to Congress on Medicaid
• Pre-election episode with Larry Levitt
• KFF: Can Republicans cut $880 Billion without Slashing Medicaid?
• CBPP: Impact of Medicaid Cuts
• CHCF: Defending Medi-Cal in 2025

About Our Guests

Katie Heidorn is the director of state health policy at CHCF, where she leverages the foundation’s data, expertise, and partnerships to help California’s state government make informed decisions about health care. Katie is based in CHCF’s Sacramento office.

Katie has nearly two decades of experience working in health policy, government, and nonprofits and is a skilled leader, facilitator, and communicator. She comes to CHCF after more than two years as executive director for the Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP). Before that, Katie was the government affairs advocate for Health Net and the development director and policy lead at the nonprofit California Coverage and Health Initiatives. Katie spent a decade in California state government, including as a deputy secretary for the California Health and Human Services Agency and principal consultant in the Senate Appropriations Committee. She is also an alumna of the California Senate Fellows Program.

Katie received her master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Comparative Literature from the University of California, Davis.

Source: https://www.chcf.org/person/katie-heidorn/

Kody...