BATON ROUGE - Just a few days after a regular session ended, Louisiana lawmakers are bracing for up to a $4 billion loss in federal Medicaid funding that could force them back into a special session later this year, state Senate President Cameron Henry said Tuesday.

The threat stems from President Donald Trump’s proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and proposals in the U.S. Senate this week to cut more from Medicaid than a House version of the bill.

“If this bill passes, we will absolutely call a special session,” Henry said to try to offset some of the cuts with additional state funding.

Henry, R-Metairie, also said lawmakers considered cutting state income and sales taxes during the recent session but chose to wait due to uncertainty over the federal budget cuts.

Roughly 35 percent of Louisiana residents rely on Medicaid for health insurance, and the federal money accounts for more than two-thirds of the nearly $15 billion a year that Louisiana spends on the program.

Henry said he has been in talks with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy to help protect Louisiana’s hospitals, but the situation remains fluid. Many hospitals, especially in rural areas, depend on Medicaid money to survive.

The U.S. Senate hopes to pass a bill soon and wrap up negotiations with the House and the Trump administration by July 4.

Henry made his comments during a webinar hosted by the Public Affairs Research Council. He said that state legislators might need to return for a special session on political redistricting.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a case that challenges whether the two current majority-Black congressional districts in Louisiana were drawn using unconstitutional racial criteria.

A ruling against the map could prompt a special session to redraw the maps for the third time in two years to ensure compliance before the 2026 elections.

But Henry said he had not heard anything more a possible special session from Gov. Jeff Landry to reconsider legislation involving drug stores and the middlemen who manage pharmacy drug benefits.

As the regular session neared an end on June 12, Landry threatened to call a special session if Henry and the Senate did not agree to a House bill aimed at banning pharmacy benefit management companies from owning retail pharmacies.

CVS said the bill might force it to close some of its 120 stores in Louisiana. The Senate opted instead to simply ask state health officials to study the matter.

During the webinar, Henry and Rep, Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, also explained why the Legislature provided less than half of the money that Landry had sought in rolling out his LA GATOR school voucher program.

Landry had proposed $94 million in funding, but lawmakers approved just $44 million.

The LA GATOR program is replacing a previous program that provide state money to families to send children to private schools.

McFarland said the state’s initial intent in providing vouchers was help students leave D- and F- rated public schools, not to subsidize families already paying private tuition. But most of the extra money that Landry sought would have gone to parents whose children were already attending private schools.

“I don’t believe that was the intention, certainly not my intention,” McFarland said.

He also noted that funding is complicated by differences in per-pupil costs between public and private schools.

Henry said the Legislature should take a wait-and-see approach. He also noted the original idea was to have money follow students leaving failing schools.

“We’ve gotten away from the general point of what we are trying to do,” he said.

Lawmakers left the session touting the $53.5 billion state budget as a major achievement.

McFarland said it had the lowest growth rate since he joined the Legislature while still funding core government services.

Henry praised the use of $1.2 billion from the Revenue Stabilization Fund to avoid increasing recurring spending.

Teacher pay remains unresolved. The budget continues providing $2,000 stipends to K-12 teachers rather than permanent raises, following the failure of constitutional amendments last fall that would have freed up recurring revenue.

Henry said he hopes a revised version of the amendment, just passed by the Legislature, does better with voters next April ballot.

McFarland said the focus should be on attracting and retaining strong educators, not just boosting salaries.

Henry cited new legislation requiring age verification for children using phones and apps, saying it could become a national model. He also called for shifting Louisiana’s economic development strategy away from tourist events and toward permanent investments like data centers.

Rep. Vanessa LaFleur, D-Baton Rouge, who was also on the webinar, highlighted her bill strengthening language around child sexual abuse, calling it “important for the state, for our businesses, for our babies.”

Efforts to restructure the Department of Transportation and Development fell short, the lawmakers said.

Henry said the department’s size and funding complexity made changes difficult, though he expects results from a long-term plan within three to four years.