GOP health policy guru continues to support $1 trillion Medicaid cuts, warning of next target

Brian Blase, president of the Paragon Health Institute, has become a trusted adviser to Republican lawmakers and has publicly defended sweeping Medicaid reductions.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Blase helped shape, is projected to cut Medicaid spending by about $1 trillion over the next decade, a move intended to offset recent tax cuts. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the cuts could strip coverage from roughly 7 million people.

Health providers are scrambling to redesign care models as the funding landscape shifts, while critics argue the cuts will worsen health outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Blase maintains that the reductions are fiscally responsible and necessary, even as the policy debate intensifies and backlash grows among patient advocates.