Democrats in Olympia have perfected the art of political blame-shifting, and Governor Bob Ferguson is leading the way. For weeks, Ferguson has wagged his finger at the Trump administration, warning that “at least 250,000 Washingtonians will lose Medicaid coverage.” But thanks to Carleen Johnson’s reporting in The Center Square, we now know the truth: the real Medicaid cuts are coming straight from Ferguson’s own budget.
House Republican budget lead Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, finally pried the numbers out of the nonpartisan Office of Program Research, and the results are staggering. Ferguson’s 2025 budget slashed over $782 million from Medicaid—$446 million in federal funds and $336.5 million in state dollars. That’s three times deeper than even Republicans first estimated.
And here’s the kicker: those cuts don’t just hit “the system.” They hit real people—the elderly, low-income families, and people with disabilities. General medical services, long-term care, and aging programs are all on the chopping block. Meanwhile, Washington hospitals—already $4 billion in the red—are expected to keep their doors open while Democrats siphon money away. Rural and critical access hospitals, in particular, may not survive Ferguson’s math.
But here’s the most cynical twist of all, as Couture explained to The Center Square: the money Ferguson yanked from vulnerable patients didn’t just vanish. It was redirected into pay raises for bureaucrats and politicians in Olympia. Democrats decided that keeping themselves comfortable was more important than ensuring care for people who actually need it.
So when Ferguson stands at a podium, hand on heart, declaring it “immoral” and “unconscionable” that Medicaid could be cut, remember this: those cuts are already happening, and they’re his. The federal changes he’s railing against don’t kick in until 2027 or 2028. The suffering in Washington hospitals, nursing homes, and among struggling families? That’s happening right now—thanks to Bob Ferguson and the Democrats who signed off on it.
As Couture summed it up: faced with a choice between protecting the most vulnerable or padding their own paychecks, Olympia Democrats chose themselves.
