Republican senators are pushing back hard on hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts included in the Senate version of President Trump’s budget reconciliation package, endangering Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) plan for a vote as soon as Friday.

Two Republicans are a hard “no” on the bill — Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) — and a handful of other Republicans won’t say whether they’ll vote to begin debate on the package because they are concerned that deep cuts in Medicaid spending could cause millions of Americans to lose their coverage and push scores of rural hospitals around the country into bankruptcy.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) declined to say Wednesday whether they would vote to proceed to the bill if their concerns about Medicaid cuts remain unsolved.

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday circulated a proposal to establish a $15 billion health care provider relief fund, but Collins said it wouldn’t be adequate to keep many rural hospitals from going out of business.

A Republican senator familiar with the Finance Committee’s proposal said roughly half of the fund would be available to rural hospitals around the country, and the other half would be targeted to specific hospitals chosen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Collins said the proposal falls far short of what’s needed.

“I believe we need [a] $100 billion provider-relief fund. I don’t think that solves the entire problem. The Senate cuts in Medicaid are far deeper than the House cuts, and I think that’s problematic as well,” Collins said.

“Obviously any money is helpful but not if it is not adequate. But I do not........

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