Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, speaks during a senate appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for the 2024 fiscal year at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades / FR171810 AP Photo
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, speaks during a senate appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for the 2024 fiscal year at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades / FR171810 AP Photo

Maryland’s two U.S. senators are sounding the alarm about potential Medicaid cuts currently in the Republican budget bill that may come up for a vote this week in the Senate.

The bill, which cuts $880 billion from Medicaid over a decade, shrinks the amount of people eligible for care, imposes work requirements and forces people to re-enroll for benefits more often, could come up for a vote as soon as this week.

“Those are lots of big numbers, but they boil down to one simple truth, which is that Medicaid helps families stay healthy, and it helps families stay out of poverty and the bottom line is it saves lives,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday. “It will slash health coverage for at least 16 million people nationwide.”

Read more at WYPR.