'no Basis In Reality': Expert Turns Tables On Key Democrat Claim Against Trump's 'big, Beautiful Bill'

Democrats in Washington, D.C., are misrepresenting awesome criticisms of President Trump’s "big beautiful bill" pinch incorrect facts, according to an master who said to Fox News Digital this week arsenic Trump’s fund reconciliation package is debated successful Congress. 

"The measure doesn't trim benefits for anyone who has income beneath nan poorness line, anyone who is moving astatine slightest 20 hours a week and not caring for a child, and group who are Americans," Jim Agresti, president and cofounder of Just Facts, told Fox News Digital successful consequence to criticisms from Democrats and a fistful of Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley, that Trump’s measure will trim Medicaid and disproportionately wounded nan poor. 

"In different words, it cuts retired forbidden immigrants who are not Americans and fraudsters. So that communicative has nary ground successful reality. See, what's been going connected since nan Medicaid programme was started? Is that it's been expanded and expanded and extended. You know, it sewage its commencement successful 1966. And since that time, nan poorness complaint has stayed astir level astir 11% to 15%. While nan information of group successful nan United States connected Medicaid has skyrocketed from 3% to 29%. Right now, 2.5 times much group are connected Medicaid than are successful poverty."

Medicaid cuts and betterment person been a major sticking point pinch Democrats, who have merged information from 2 caller reports from nan nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to backmost up claims that astir 14 cardinal would suffer coverage. The White House and Republicans person objected, arsenic not each nan argumentation proposals evaluated were really included successful Republicans' legislation, and acold less group would really look security loss. 

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Fox News Digital said to Just Facts President Jim Agresti astir President Trump's bill. (Getty/Fox News Digital)

Instead, Republicans reason that their projected reforms to instrumentality activity requirements, fortify eligibility checks and ace down connected Medicaid for forbidden immigrants sphere nan programme for those who really request it. 

"I agree," Dem. Rep. Jasmine Crockett said successful response to a declare connected CNN that Republicans "want mediocre group to die" pinch Medicaid cuts. 

Agresti told Fox News Digital that nan Medicaid cuts are aimed at bringing group retired of poorness and waste. 

"It's putting immoderate criteria down to say, 'Hey, if you want this, and you're not successful poverty, you request to work,'" Agresti said. "You request to do thing to amended your situation, which is what these programs are expected to be, lifting group retired of poverty, not sticking them location for eternity. So nan full thought is to get group working, springiness them an incentive. Hey, if you want to do amended successful life, and you want this Medicaid coverage, past you person to gain it."

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has claimed nan measure is simply a "death condemnation for nan moving class," because it raises wellness security "copayments for mediocre people."

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Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered a consequence reside to President Trump's reside to a associated convention of Congress.  (Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane)

Agresti called that declare "outlandish."

"First of all, nan Big Beautiful Bill does not raise copayments connected anyone who's beneath nan poorness line," he explained. "Now, for group who are supra nan poorness line, it requires states to astatine slightest complaint immoderate benignant of copayment, and it besides reduces, actually, nan max copayment from $100 per sojourn to $35 per visit."

Agresti went connected to explicate that nether nan existent system, "people person fundamentally free rein to conscionable spell to a expert aliases an emergency room aliases immoderate different spot without immoderate co-payment, and they're not successful poverty."

"What ends up happening is they discarded a ton of money," Agresti said. "This has been proven done randomized power trials, which are nan golden modular for societal subject analysis, wherever you person group successful a lottery system, immoderate group get nan benefit, and immoderate group don't, and what you extremity up seeing is that group who don't person to person tegument successful nan game, maltreatment emergency rooms, they spell location for a stuffy nose, rack up each this money, and it does thing to amended their health. It's conscionable wasteful."

In a connection to Fox News Digital, Sanders Communications Director Anna Bahr said, "Mr. Agresti’s facts present are simply incorrect."

Sanders' agency added that "nearly half of each enrollees connected nan ACA exchanges are Republicans" and pointed to nan House-passed reconciliation measure that Sanders' agency argues "says that if a worker can’t navigate nan maze of paperwork that nan measure creates for Medicaid enrollees, they are barred from receiving ACA taxation credits arsenic well."

"But workers must gain astatine slightest $15,650 per twelvemonth to suffice for taxation credits connected nan ACA marketplaces – astir adjacent to nan yearly income for a full-time worker earning nan national minimum wage."

Sanders' agency besides pointed to "CBO estimates that 16 cardinal group will suffer security arsenic a consequence of nan House-passed measure and nan Republicans ending nan ACA’s enhanced premium taxation credits."

Sanders' agency besides reiterated that nan House-passed measure makes a "fundamental change" to copay for Medicaid beneficiaries, shifting from optional to mandatory.

"While claiming that I’m ‘incorrect,’ Sanders’ unit fails to supply a azygous truth that shows nan BBB cuts wellness attraction for mediocre moving Americans," Agresti responded. 

"It’s particularly laughable that they mention expanded Obamacare subsidies successful this context, because group successful poorness aren’t moreover eligible for them," Agresti continued. "After this ‘temporary' Covid-era handout expires, group pinch incomes up to 400% of nan national poorness level — aliases $150,600 for a family of 5 — will still beryllium eligible for this use program, though they will person less."

Agresti based on that nan declare a "max $35 copay (for group who are not poor) ‘hurts moving families’" is not supported by investigation "which makes generalizations and simply cites ‘associations.'"

"As commonly taught successful precocious schoolhouse math, relation doesn’t beryllium causation," Agresti said. 

Sanders' agency told Fox News Digital, "Mr. Agresti seems to judge that a moving family of 4 earning only $32,150 per twelvemonth doesn’t merit thief affording their wellness care. Health attraction successful nan United States is much costly than anyplace successful nan world. Terminating wellness attraction sum for 16 cardinal Americans and expanding wellness attraction costs for millions will make it harder for moving group to spend nan wellness attraction they need, moreover if Mr. Agresti doesn’t agree."

Agresti besides took rumor pinch nan communicative that cuts cannot beryllium made to Medicaid without cutting benefits to group who are entitled to them.

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The Capitol Building from nan National Mall successful Washington D.C., connected Friday, August 9, 2024. (Aaron Schwartz/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

"The Government Accountability Office has put retired figures that are astonishing, hundreds of billions of dollars a twelvemonth are going to waste," Agresti said. "So, yeah, immoderate criteria to make judge that doesn't hap is simply a wise idea. Unfortunately, location is simply a ton of white-collar crime successful this country, and this benignant of crime is simply a white-collar crime. It's not committed pinch a gun, aliases by robbing aliases punching someone, it's committed by fraud, and there's an tremendous magnitude of it. 

"And nan big, beautiful bill, again, seeks to rein that successful by putting a criteria to make judge we're checking people's income, we're checking their assets. A batch of these national programs, authorities wellness attraction programs, they've stopped checking assets. So you could beryllium a lottery victor sitting connected $3 cardinal successful rate and person very small income. And still get children's wellness security programme benefits for your kids."

Hawley said connected Monday that he did not person a problem pinch immoderate of nan marquee changes to Medicaid that his House Republican counterparts wanted, including stricter activity requirements, booting forbidden immigrants from use rolls and rooting retired waste, fraud and maltreatment successful nan programme that serves tens of millions of Americans.

However, he noted that astir 1.3 cardinal Missourians trust connected Medicaid and nan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and contended that astir were working.

"These are not group who are sitting around, these are group who are working," he said. "They’re connected Medicaid because they cannot spend backstage wellness insurance, and they don't get it connected nan job."

"And I conscionable deliberation it's incorrect to spell to those group and say, ‘Well, you know, we cognize you're doing nan best, we cognize that you're moving hard, but we're going to return distant your wellness attraction access,’" he continued. 

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Alex Miller contributed to this report.