Last night, the US House passed their “mega-bill” with Medicaid and SNAP cuts that will take health care and food away from millions of Americans. The bill — also called a budget reconciliation bill and dubbed “one big beautiful bill” by the President — passed on a near party-line vote of 215-214. Among the Texas delegation in Congress, all Republicans voted for it, and all Democrats voted against it.
Your Advocacy Is Making a Difference
We’re deeply concerned about the bill, but it’s important to recognize that your advocacy made a difference. For six months, we’ve worked with you and partners across Texas and the nation to build opposition to the Medicaid cuts. The worst proposals on the table — such as across-the-board Medicaid cuts — never made it into the bill.
The Cuts Are Still Terrible
Let’s be clear. The Medicaid and SNAP cuts in the bill are terrible. The latest estimate is that the bill includes $792 billion in Medicaid cuts that would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 7.6 million. Here at home, we could see 430,000 more uninsured Texans as result of the health care provisions in the bill, particularly the Medicaid cuts, according to one estimate. Texans who are eligible for Medicaid would face new red tape requirements. The bill also prohibits adding or expanding “provider taxes.” Without those new Medicaid dollars, it will be harder for some hospitals to provide key health care services — such as labor and delivery services for pregnant women — as our state population grows.
Texans who directly rely on Medicaid health insurance — children, pregnant women, seniors in nursing homes, and people with disabilities — will suffer as a result. Texans will miss out on check ups, cancer screenings, prenatal care, therapy for disabilities, and more.
Because Medicaid funding is the backbone of our health care system — helping to keep open rural hospitals, children’s hospitals, and other providers — all Texans could see a decline in health care services in their community.
The cuts in other states — the Medicaid expansion states — are even worse than the cuts that will hit Texas. Those cuts and restrictions include more frequent hoops to jump through to confirm eligibility, work requirements that push working people off insurance by creating piles of paperwork, and cuts targeting lawful immigrants.
And that’s just the Medicaid cuts. The $300 billion in cuts to SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, are actually WORSE than what observers expected earlier this year. More children, seniors, and others will go hungry as a result. An estimated 806,000 Texans — including 683,000 Texans in families with kids plus 123,000 Texans age 55-64 without kids in the house — would be at risk of losing some or all of their SNAP benefits. Those disturbing estimates do not even include the impact of shifting SNAP costs from the federal government to state governments, which may force states to make further SNAP cuts unless they are able and willing to cover those additional costs with state revenue.
To top it off, budget experts have also warned that the bill will explode the budget deficit.
We Still Have a Chance to Stop the Cuts
It’s true that the bill has a lot of momentum. However, the fight is not over. It now goes to the Senate for consideration. They are expected to make changes to the bill, take a vote on it, and then send it back to the House for consideration.
That means the Senate — and likely the House — still have to vote on it. Please keep raising your voice to urge Congress to oppose the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP!
Thank you for supporting Texas kids and families!
