Of the $16.4 billion annual Medicaid costs for Louisiana, state taxpayers kick in about $3 billion, according to the Legislature. The new law would halt some of the tools Louisiana uses to pay that $3 billion, requiring the state to pour in extra money or let some people go without health insurance.

It also takes aim at Medicaid, the federal and state health program that covered 78.6 million low-income children and adults as of March 2025, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Sharp Medicaid cuts could result in vulnerable Americans no longer being able to receive care, either by losing coverage or by closing the centers that provide such care.