RELEASE: Missourians Speak Out on Sen. Hawley’s Medicaid Reversal

Senator Josh Hawley is now trying to undo the very Medicaid cuts he voted for. After supporting the GOP budget bill that is now law – a bill that cuts trillions from Medicaid and threatens to gut rural health care – Hawley has introduced new legislation to reverse some of the damage he caused. 

If protecting Medicaid was the goal, why vote to cut it in the first place?

Missourians directly impacted by these cuts, including those who rely on Medicaid, care for those who do, or serve communities that stand to lose access entirely, are speaking out:

Kyle Auxier, a Medicaid recipient from St. James, Missouri, living with muscular dystrophy:

“Josh Hawley wants to be seen as a populist. He tries to say the right things about Medicaid out loud, but then votes the exact opposite. His new proposal to stop the Medicaid cuts is clearly a political stunt. He’s pretending to care, but he knows no Republican will support it. If he really meant it, he would have voted no on the bill when he had the chance, but he doesn’t have the cojones. He just listens to the donor class. If I had to sum him up in four words: dishonest, inauthentic, cowardly, and knavish.”

Sarah Auxier, mom and caretaker of Kyle from St. James, Missouri:

“I have absolutely no faith in Josh Hawley after he told us he wouldn’t vote for this terrible bill, then just did it anyway. Now he wants to reverse his position? He could’ve simply voted no from the start, and we wouldn’t be in this mess. This bill was a monstrosity with too many moving parts. If they truly cared about families like mine, they would’ve taken a straightforward vote on the Medicaid cuts instead of hiding them where no one could fight back.”

D’Marco Fincher, a St. Louis University Hospital worker and member of SEIU Healthcare Missouri from St. Louis County:

“Senator Hawley once promised he wouldn’t vote to cut Medicaid, then turned around and did it anyway. Now he’s again changing his position. For folks like my dad who’s been on Medicaid for 20 years and workers like me who rely on Medicaid to keep hospitals running, this isn’t just political, it’s personal. Senator Hawley’s reversals don’t undo the harm already done, and words alone won’t protect the people who need this care. If he truly understands what Medicaid means to Missouri, he should fight to fully restore what he cut and show us with his votes, not just his headlines.”

Crystal Lyon, a young mom from St. Charles County with a daughter on Medicaid: 

“Josh Hawley’s back-and-forth contradictions are just a strategic move to try and save his political career. He knows Missourians are angry, he knows we’ll remember this next November, and I don’t think this will fix anything. He turned his back on the American people, and now he’s trying to undo it. He makes Missouri look like a laughing stock. And as someone whose young child is on Medicaid, I’ll never forget that Josh Hawley voted against my daughter’s life and millions of other lives across America.”

Devon McTye, a Medicaid recipient from Columbia, Missouri:

“Mr. Hawley has not acted in the best interest of his constituents with his actions on Medicaid, known as MO HealthNet in Missouri. Now he wants credit for trying to undo the damage. How can Missourians trust this isn’t just another political move to boost his rumored presidential ambitions? Does he even have the support of other GOP senators to pass this reversal? Show us the work. Until then, this looks like a PR play to score points back home, not a serious attempt to fix what he broke.”

Holly and Tom Pepe, Springfield, Missouri, residents and parents and full-time caretakers of a son with Down Syndrome:

“We are so confused and angry. Why would Senator Hawley approve a bill that he will now spend the next five years making sure one of its main tenants never comes to pass. Can’t he just do it right the first time? You don’t get to have both pats on the back from your cronies and get to say this is a terrible policy that you will work to undo.

What this means for me and my family is this: We have a son with Down Syndrome, he is a wonderful person who gives so much to his community. He deserves to have assurances that he will be taken care of as he grows up. We are confused and scared about what the future holds for Medicaid. Our kids deserve better. Hawley needs to do better if he is going to work for us and the state of Missouri.”

Kat Stewart, a certified nurse aid and member of SEIU Healthcare Missouri from Kansas City, Missouri:

“I don’t think Sen. Hawley thought it through before he made that vote. And what really bothers me is that he never explained himself. He just voted and went on with his life after lying to us. He waited until now to try to fix it, but when you decide to cut Medicaid, you owe people an explanation right then. Instead, he voted against Missourians and hoped no one would call out his betrayal or that we’d forget about it.”

This isn’t leadership, it’s a betrayal. And unfortunately, it’s exactly what Missourians have come to expect from Hawley. He can’t be trusted to protect the health care our communities rely on, not when he votes to gut it and then scrambles to hide his tracks.

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