On July 3, 2025, Richard Hudson voted for the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the first law to strip Medicare from people who already qualified for it: people admitted as refugees or granted asylum, among other lawfully present immigrants who lack a green card; the Congressional Budget Office expects about 100,000 to be dropped by 2034.
Two deciding Hudson votes came earlier. His April 10, 2025 vote decided the budget resolution that opened room for $4.5 trillion in tax changes, which shrink a revenue stream for Medicare's hospital fund; his May 22 vote decided House passage of a bill that freezes two enrollment rules, one of which helps low-income seniors get their Medicare premiums paid. North Carolina had 2,228,458 people on Medicare in 2024.
Richard Hudson's Votes on Medicare Coverage, Premium Help and the Hospital Trust Fund
- Hudson Approved the First Law to End Medicare for People Already Covered, in July 2025. Richard Hudson was among the 218 yes votes on July 3, 2025 that sent the Senate-passed H.R. 1 to the president, 218 to 214. Under section 71201, a lawful immigrant now needs a green card or one of a short list of other statuses to keep Medicare, so refugees and asylees fall out. In KFF's words, "This is the first time that Congress has eliminated Medicare coverage" for people who were legally entitled to it, and CBO, as KFF reports, expects about 100,000 Medicare enrollees to lose that coverage by 2034. Those already identified lose coverage on February 1, 2027, the cutoff in CMS's proposed rule. The same law shields more rare-disease drugs from price talks, a change CBO says will cost Medicare $8.8 billion.
- Hudson Delivered a Needed Vote for a House Bill Freezing Help With Seniors' Medicare Premiums, in May 2025. On May 22, 2025, the House approved H.R. 1 by 215 to 214, one member voting present, and Hudson's yes was one it could not do without. Both that bill and the eventual law froze most of two enrollment rules: one had made it simpler for seniors with little income to sign up for the Medicare Savings Programs, which pick up their premiums and copays, and the other was a broader Medicaid eligibility and enrollment rule. For the House bill, CBO had estimated that by 2034 Medicaid would cover 1.3 million fewer Medicare enrollees, a number KFF says may be lower under the final law, and in KFF's example a senior cut off from that help ends up "paying $185 per month in Medicare premiums, or about 20% of income."
- Hudson's April 2025 Budget Vote Opened the Door to Tax Cuts That Move Medicare's Insolvency Date Up. Hudson voted on April 10, 2025 to adopt the final budget resolution, H.Con.Res. 14, which cleared 216 to 214; a single no from him would have left it tied and defeated. The resolution let the Ways and Means Committee write tax law that would "increase the deficit by not more than $4,500,000,000,000". One of the tax cuts in the final law Hudson voted for on July 3 lowers what retirees owe on their Social Security checks, money that partly flows into Medicare's hospital insurance. The hospital fund was already projected to run out in 2033, and the 2026 trustees moved its depletion one quarter earlier within that year, primarily because that revenue came in "lower than previously projected due to changes in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill," KFF reports.
What Richard Hudson's Medicare Votes Mean for Seniors in North Carolina's 9th District and Statewide
- 22,500 seniors in Hudson's district rely on the Medicaid help the frozen rules govern. KFF counted 22,500 seniors enrolled in Medicaid in North Carolina's 9th District in 2025, the low-income older residents for whom Medicaid typically pays Medicare premiums and cost sharing. The paused rules make that help harder for seniors like them to get and keep, and a senior who loses it pays the premium out of a fixed monthly budget.
- The hospital fund serving North Carolina's 2.2 million Medicare enrollees runs dry a quarter sooner, primarily because of the law. KFF counts 2,228,458 North Carolinians on Medicare in 2024: 994,906 in the traditional program, the rest, 1,233,552, in private Medicare Advantage plans. All of them draw hospital coverage from the trust fund, which the trustees now expect to be exhausted in the second quarter of 2033, a quarter ahead of their prior projection, primarily due to lower revenue from taxing Social Security benefits under the law, KFF reports.
- North Carolina seniors who rely on cancer drugs wait longer for negotiated prices. The orphan-drug change delays selection of Keytruda and Opdivo for Medicare negotiation "by at least one year," KFF expects, so North Carolina enrollees who take them pay cost sharing on prices that have not been negotiated down until then; in 2023 Medicare and its enrollees spent $5.6 billion on Keytruda alone.
Frequently Asked Questions About Richard Hudson on Medicare
What is Richard Hudson's record on Medicare under Trump?
Richard Hudson cast a deciding vote for the 2025 budget resolution on April 10, a deciding vote for the House bill on May 22, and a yes for the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 3. That law ends Medicare for about 100,000 lawfully present immigrants by 2034, pauses rules that help low-income seniors with premiums, and costs Medicare $8.8 billion more for orphan drugs. North Carolina had 2,228,458 Medicare enrollees in 2024.
On what date do North Carolina refugees and asylees lose Medicare because of Richard Hudson's vote?
For refugees, asylees and other lawfully present immigrants in North Carolina who were already identified, Medicare ends on February 1, 2027 under CMS's proposed timeline, the Center for Medicare Advocacy says, under the law Richard Hudson voted for in the House's July 3, 2025 vote. The Congressional Budget Office projects about 100,000 people nationwide will have lost Medicare by 2034.
Did Richard Hudson's votes bring Medicare's hospital fund closer to running out?
Yes. Richard Hudson's deciding vote on April 10, 2025 for the budget resolution cleared the way for the law's tax changes, and on July 3 he voted for the final law that made them; the 2026 trustees report keeps the hospital fund's exhaustion in 2033 but a quarter earlier than before, primarily because the law cut taxes on Social Security benefits that feed the fund, KFF reports. North Carolina's 2.2 million Medicare enrollees all draw hospital coverage from that fund.
Last updated: 2026-10-27