As House republicans push forward with President Trump's “big, beautiful bill” which includes significant changes to medicaid, Guam Delegate James Moylan says there won’t be any “direct cuts” to funding for the island. 

“For the territory of Guam, its status quo on the funding and ability to have the coverage they currently have,” said Moylan. 

But Guam will have to redetermine Medicaid eligibility at least every 6 months come October 2027. 

“We have a huge deficit in the United States. So we’re trying to bring that down,” added Moylan. 

The multitrillion dollar legislation backs Trump's priorities to include increased spending for defense and border security. 

It extends 2017 Trump tax cuts and makes $880 billion cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, and clean energy subsidies. 

Five republicans blocked the measure Friday but a revote Sunday night, or midday Monday Guam Time, advanced the bill forward one step closer to a floor vote. 

Under the bill, there will be stricter work requirements for Medicaid recipients to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse.”

“Again, this is for future planning, it’s not until January 1st of 2029 that new and existing Medicaid recipients would need to show that they are engaged in work, education or community service for at least 80 hours per month,” said Moylan. 

There are exceptions for children, expectant mothers, people with disabilities, medicare recipients and those “facing hardships.”

Democrats argue the stricter requirements will increase barriers to enrolling and renewing, causing millions to lose coverage. 

It comes at a time when local officials are looking to improve accessibility and eligibility, according to Governor Lou Leon Guerrero. 

“Yes, we are aware that Medicaid is not going to be impacted, but we continue to actually work with the Department of Public Health and Social Services to make the system much more efficient and much more accessible and easy to be eligible and improve eligibility,” said 

We asked the congressman if he is advocating against these stricter requirements. 

Moylan says the priority is “to ensure those eligible continue to receive” coverage. 

“We have years to prepare for this, getting the paperwork ready and having people understand as we go along, our agencies ready to oversee this, our government ready to provide the documentation and show proof that this program will actually work. So we have time to prepare,” said Moylan. 

According to Public Health, there are 45,433 Guam residents who rely on Medicaid.