¶ Overview
Calvert promised he was “committed to protecting Medicaid benefits for Americans who rely on the program.” Then, he voted for a bill that would kick 17 million Americans off their health insurance, including nearly 12 million Americans off of Medicaid. More than two million Californians who lived in Orange and Riversides counties relied on Medicaid for health insurance.
Calvert has attacked Californians’ access to affordable health insurance before. In 2017, he voted for House Republicans’ plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and he defended the Senate Republican bill that sought to repeal the ACA. Nearly two million Californians were enrolled in ACA marketplace plans.
¶ Calvert Broke His Promise And Voted To Take Health Coverage From Californians
¶ Calvert Claimed He Was “committed to Protecting Medicaid Benefits for Americans Who Rely on The Program”
Calvert Claimed He Was “Committed To Protecting Medicaid Benefits For Americans Who Rely On The Program.”
[Twitter, @KenCalvert, 3/19/25]
¶ Calvert Voted for The Republican Reconciliation Bill, Which Would Take Health Coverage from 17 Million Americans
¶ July 2025: Calvert Voted For The Final Version Of The Republican Reconciliation Bill
July 2025: Calvert Voted For The Senate FY 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill That Extended $4 Trillion In Expiring Tax Cuts, Added New Tax Breaks, Appropriated $448 Billion In Defense, Border, And Immigration Enforcement Funding, Increased The SALT Deduction To $40,000, And Cut Medicaid And Other Social Programs To Offset The Costs. In July 2025, Calvert voted for, according to Congressional Quarterly, the “motion to concur in the Senate amendment to the bill that would permanently extend nearly $4 trillion in expiring individual and business tax cuts, create several new tax breaks and fund border and immigration enforcement and air traffic control upgrades. It would cut Medicaid and other safety net programs to partly offset the cost. Among other provisions, it would raise the statutory debt ceiling by $5 trillion and appropriate more than $448 billion in mandatory funding for Trump administration priorities and other needs, including $153 billion for defense, $89 billion for immigration enforcement, and $89.5 billion for border control and security. It also would increase the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 annually for five years for households making up to $500,000 a year until 2030, when it would permanently revert to $10,000.” The House passed the bill by a vote of 218 to 214. [House Vote 190, 7/3/25; Congressional Quarterly, 7/3/25; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1]
- HEADLINE: "At Least 17 Million Americans Would Lose Insurance Under Trump Plan" [Washington Post, 7/1/25]
- The Congressional Budget Office Estimated That 11.8 Million People Would Become Uninsured As A Result Of The Medicaid Cuts In Republicans’ Reconciliation Bill. According to the Washington Post, "The bill, which narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday and now heads back to the House, would effectively accomplish what Republicans have long failed to do: unwind many of the key components of the ACA, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, which dramatically increased the number of Americans with access to health insurance. To start, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Senate version of the bill would result in 11.8 million more uninsured in 2034, mostly because of Medicaid cuts, compared with 10.9 million if the House version became law." [Washington Post, 7/1/25]
¶ May 2025: Calvert Voted In Favor Of House Republicans’ Reconciliation Bill, Which Cut Medicaid
2025: Calvert Voted For The FY 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill That Included $3.8 Trillion In Tax Cuts Offset By $1.5 Trillion In Spending Reductions To Programs Like Medicaid And The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In May 2025, Calvert voted for, according to Congressional Quarterly, “the bill that would provide for approximately $3.8 trillion in net tax cuts and $321 billion in military, border enforcement and judiciary spending, offset by $1.5 trillion in spending reductions, as instructed in the fiscal 2025 budget resolution (H Con Res 14). It would raise the statutory debt limit by $4 trillion and provide for increased spending on defense and border security, spending cuts on social safety net programs, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It also includes a mix of tax breaks for businesses and individuals; tax increases on universities and foundations; and a phase-down of clean energy tax credits. […] It would reduce federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by requiring states to shoulder more of the cost, expand work requirements for SNAP, extend programs authorized under the 2018 farm bill, and prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture from increasing the cost of the Thrifty Food Program. As amended, it would cap state and local tax deductions at $40,000 for households with incomes below $500,000.” The House passed the bill by a vote of 215 to 214. [House Vote 145, 5/22/25; Congressional Quarterly, 5/22/25; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1]
- The House GOP Budget Bill Was Estimated To Increase The Uninsured Population By 8.6 Million By 2034. According to CNN, “The Medicaid and Affordable Care Act provisions in the package could result in 8.6 million more people being uninsured in 2034, according to an early CBO estimate released by Democratic lawmakers. That number is expected to grow with the latest changes.” [CNN, 5/28/25]
- HEADLINE: “House Republican Budget Takes Away Health Care, Food Aid To Pay For Expanded Tax Cuts For Wealthy” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/21/25]
- HEADLINE: “CBO: 7.6 Million Would Go Uninsured Under GOP Medicaid Bill” [Politico, 5/13/25]
¶ February 2025: Calvert Voted For House Republicans’ Budget Framework, Which Set Up Future Cuts To Medicaid
2/25/25: Calvert Voted For The FY 2025 Budget Framework That Included $2 Trillion In Cuts, Raised The Statutory Debt Limit By $4 Trillion, And Required House Committees To Recommend Legislation That Would Implement Trump’s Agenda. In February 2025, Calvert voted for, according to Congressional Quarterly, “the concurrent resolution that would recommend a budget for fiscal 2025 and budget levels through fiscal 2034. The resolution would assume minimum savings of $1.5 trillion over 10 years and 2.6 percent economic growth over the same period. It also would require the statutory debt limit to be raised by $4 trillion. It also would authorize the House Ways and Means Committee to increase deficits by $4.5 trillion over 10 years to extend the 2017 tax cuts and implement new tax cuts proposed by the White House. It also would provide instructions for the budget reconciliation process through which separate legislation could be considered and passed in the Senate via a simple majority vote. The measure would deliver instructions to 11 House committees to report legislation that would implement President Donald Trump’s agenda, such as expanding tax cuts and bolstering border security and immigration enforcement. The committees would be required to report their legislative recommendations to the House Budget Committee by March 27, 2025. It also would set a $2 trillion target for the spending cuts to be submitted to the House Budget Committee. The resolution also would stipulate that if the committees don't reach that target, the Ways and Means’ reconciliation instructions to increase the deficit by a maximum of $4.5 trillion would be decreased by the amount the other committees come in below the target. Similarly, it would stipulate that Ways and Means could increase the deficit above the $4.5 trillion level by the amount of savings the committees achieve above the $2 trillion target.” The vote was on passage. The House passed the resolution by a vote of 217 to 215. [House Vote 50, 2/25/25; Congressional Quarterly, 2/25/25; Congressional Actions, H. Con. Res. 14]
- HEADLINE: "House Republican Budget Takes Away Health Care, Food Aid To Pay For Expanded Tax Cuts For Wealthy" [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/21/25]
- New York Times Reported The $880 Billion In Cuts Required By The Republican Budget Proposal Would Have To Come From Medicaid, Medicare, Or CHIP. According to the New York Times, "The budget resolution itself is silent on whether Congress cuts Medicaid, which provides health coverage to 72 million poor and disabled Americans. But it instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the program, to cut spending by $880 billion over the next decade. If the committee can’t save at least that much, the entire effort could be imperiled because of the special process Congress is using to avoid a Senate filibuster. Ten other committees have their own instructions to follow, though none have been assigned with cutting nearly as much. It’s not so simple as finding the cuts elsewhere. The special process, known as budget reconciliation, means Republicans will have to find all $880 billion from within the Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction. That leaves them with fewer options than one might think. […] If Republicans want to avoid major cuts to Medicaid, the largest pot of available money is in the other big government health insurance program: Medicare. […] Even if the committee cuts everything that’s not health care to $0, it will still be more than $600 billion short. The committee could also save around $200 billion by eliminating the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but that option has not been raised by the budget committee or anyone in House leadership. […] Even if all of these cuts, revenues and rule cancellations from outside health care can pass muster, the committee will still be left with hundreds of billions of dollars to cut to hit its goal. Mathematically, the budget committee’s instructions mean the committee would need to make major cuts to either Medicare, Medicaid or both." [New York Times, 2/25/25]
¶ Calvert Defended His Votes to Cut Californians’ Health Care
HEADLINE: "Rep. Calvert Defends Medicaid Cuts In “Big Beautiful Bill.” [News Channel 3 (KESQ), 6/30/25] (video)
Calvert Claimed Republicans’ Cuts To Medicaid Were “Not Too Much To Ask.” According to an interview Rep. Ken Calvert did with News Channel 3 (KESQ): “HOST: Local Republican Congressman Ken Calvert is hoping the Big Beautiful Bill will get passed this week ahead of that July 4th deadline. He's also defending his support for the package that includes hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid. CALVERT: Medicaid is fine. We're not doing anything to Medicaid other than people that are able bodied, men who and women under the age of 65 that are in good health with no children have 20 hour a week work requirement or 20 hours of volunteer work. That's not too much to ask to get Medicaid insurance on your behalf.” [News Channel 3 (KESQ), 6/30/25]
¶ February 2025: Calvert After Voting For The Republican Budget Framework: “It’s Going To Be Fine, Don’t Panic”
Calvert To His Constituents Regarding The Republican Budget Agreement: “It’s Going To Be Fine, Don’t Panic.” According to NOTUS, "Republican Rep. Ken Calvert has been getting a lot of calls from people concerned about Medicaid recently. His southern California district is one of the most competitive in the House, and over 20% of those in his district under 65 — and over a third of the children — rely on Medicaid. His message to those calling his office: ‘It’s going to be fine, don’t panic.’ ‘We’re talking about a budget agreement that has nothing to do with Medicaid,’ Calvert told NOTUS. ‘Not one word of Medicaid in the bill.’" [NOTUS, 2/26/25]
Calvert Claimed The Republican Budget Agreement Had “Nothing To Do With Medicaid” And Claimed There Was “Not One Word Of Medicaid In The Bill.” According to NOTUS, "Republican Rep. Ken Calvert has been getting a lot of calls from people concerned about Medicaid recently. His southern California district is one of the most competitive in the House, and over 20% of those in his district under 65 — and over a third of the children — rely on Medicaid. His message to those calling his office: ‘It’s going to be fine, don’t panic.’ ‘We’re talking about a budget agreement that has nothing to do with Medicaid,’ Calvert told NOTUS. ‘Not one word of Medicaid in the bill.’" [NOTUS, 2/26/25]
- NOTUS Reported The Budget Resolution Called For At Least $880 Billion In Mandatory Spending Cuts To Programs Under The U.S. House Energy And Commerce Committee, Making Medicaid Cuts “Almost Certainly” Necessary. According to NOTUS, "The House budget resolution doesn’t explicitly call for Medicaid cuts. But it does call for at least $880 billion in mandatory spending cuts to programs under the Energy and Commerce Committee’s purview. To get to that number, Medicaid cuts would almost certainly be a necessity." [NOTUS, 2/26/25]
¶ More Than Two Million Californians in Orange and Riverside Counties Relied on Medicaid for Health Insurance
More Than Two Million Californians In Orange And Riverside Counties Were Enrolled In California’s Medicaid Program.
[University of California Berkley, Labor Center, 2/3/25]
¶ Calvert Has Previously Voted To Repeal The Affordable Care Act
¶ 2017: Calvert Voted To Repeal The Affordable Care Act
2017: Calvert Defended His Vote To Repeal The Affordable Care Act, Claiming He Was Fulfilling A Promise To Dismantle The Law. According to the Orange County Register, "Relieved Republicans muscled their health care bill through the House on Thursday, May 4, taking their biggest step toward dismantling the Obama health care overhaul since Donald Trump took office. They won passage only after overcoming their own divisions that nearly sank the measure six weeks ago. The measure skirted through the House by a thin 217-213 vote, as all voting Democrats and a group of mostly moderate Republican holdouts voted no. A defeat would have been politically devastating for President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. […] Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, said his vote ‘fulfills a promise I made to voters to save them from the harmful effects far too many of them have experienced since Obamacare was enacted into law. ‘The American Health Care Act lays the groundwork for delivering the health care system Americans deserve by dismantling one-size-fits-all Obamacare and puts in its place policies that will create sustainable, market-driven, patient-focused health care options,’ Calvert said." [Orange County Register, 5/4/17]
- The American Health Care Act Would Have Cut Medicaid By $834 Billon Over Ten Years, Including A Roll Back Of The Medicaid Expansion. According to the New York Times, “The House repeal bill was approved on May 4 by a vote of 217 to 213, with no support from Democrats. It would eliminate tax penalties for people who go without health insurance and roll back state-by-state expansions of Medicaid, which have provided coverage to millions of low-income people. And in place of government-subsidized insurance policies offered exclusively on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces, the bill would offer tax credits of $2,000 to $4,000 a year, depending on age. […] The bill would reduce projected spending on Medicaid, the program for low-income people, by $834 billion over 10 years, and 14 million fewer people would be covered by Medicaid in 2026 — a reduction of about 17 percent from the enrollment expected under current law, the budget office said.” [New York Times, 5/24/17]
¶ 2017: Calvert Defended The Senate Republican Bill That Sought To Repeal The Affordable Care Act
2017: Calvert Defended Senate Republicans’ Affordable Care Act Repeal Bill. According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, "Revealed Thursday, June 22, after closed-door talks involving U.S. Senate Republicans, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 allows states to waive certain Obamacare insurance requirements and provides less-generous insurance subsidies than Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA. The ACA’s expansion of the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor and disabled would be rolled back. Federal Medicaid spending would be capped, and states would likely be forced to scale back Medicaid benefits or reduce eligibility to save money. […] Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, defended the Senate GOP’s approach to Medicaid. ‘Like the House bill, the Senate bill aims to refocus Medicaid on the most vulnerable Americans, while not pulling the rug out from anyone who has benefitted from the Medicaid expansion,’ he said. ‘In the long run, massive expansions of expensive government programs like Medicaid are simply not fiscally sustainable." [Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/22/17]
¶ 2017: Calvert Said He Was Delivering on His Promise to Repeal the Affordable Care Act
Calvert In 2017: “I Promised The Voters In My District That I Would Take Action And Work To Repeal And Replace Obamacare.” According to the Los Angeles Times, "Walters joins Republicans like House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), who have been the most vocally supportive of the bill and represent some of the state’s most reliably red districts. ‘I promised the voters in my district that I would take action and work to repeal and replace Obamacare with patient-centered healthcare solutions that actually reduce costs and expand choices,’ Calvert said in a statement." [Los Angeles Times, 3/9/17]
¶ Nearly Two Million Californians Relied on The Affordable Care Act for Health Insurance
2025: 1,979,504 Californians Enrolled In Affordable Care Act Marketplace Health Insurance Plans.
[KFF, Viewed 12/9/25]