The House has passed the largest cuts to Medicaid in its 50-year history, and has also taken a chainsaw to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
After a full night of raucous debate, the House early May 22 morning passed a budget bill which would strip an estimated $715 billion from Medicaid, and $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Several organizations immediately voiced their concerns over the measure, noting that at least 13 million would lose health care coverage, and millions of low-income people, including children and seniors, would face food insecurity.
The final version of the bill mandates that Medicaid recipients must provide proof of employment of at least 80 hours per month. But states could require people to work for at least 6 months to a year before becoming eligible for Medicaid. 64 percent of Medicaid recipients already work, noted KFF in a study released earlier this year.
New work requirements
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the work requirement would encourage young people to contribute to society rather than “playing video games all day.” Krystal Milam, National Policy & Advocacy Director at Young Invincibles, opposed Johnson’s characterization of young adults. “Too many in Congress are willing to throw millions of young people under the bus if it means the richest can get a little richer. While young people are fighting to achieve basic stability, Congress is rushing through reckless cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and higher education,” she said.
Work requirements were originally scheduled to begin in 2029 but the bill now mandates that states must begin implementation by the end of 2026.
The bill also imposes work requirements on SNAP recipients, including families with children over the age of 7. Current law does not require parents to work, in order to receive food assistance. People over the age of 54 will also have to show proof of employment to receive benefits, in contrast to current law.
Some Republican opposition
The bill passed by the narrowest of margins: 215-214, largely along party lines. Five Republicans either voted no, or did not vote. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, who voted no, chided his fellow Republicans in a tweet. “Major provisions of the big, beautiful bill are still being negotiated and written. Yet we are being told we will vote on it today. Shouldn’t we take more than a few hours to read a bill this big and this consequential?”
Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, also decried the speed at which the bill was passed. “For what they themselves indicate is the most consequential piece of legislation in a generation, they aren’t even bothering to wait for a full analysis of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office about the impacts, which are major for Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA.”
“This isn’t a political game. This is literally life and death for low-income working families, people with disabilities, pregnant women and their babies, children, veterans, and people who rely on rural hospitals across the country. They will pay the price of this disastrous bill for generations, while the billionaires reap the benefits,” said Wright.
House Speaker Johnson had set a deadline of passing the spending bill before Memorial Day May 26. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it already faces opposition from some Republicans. The goal of budget reconciliation is to cut $1.5 trillion in spending, to support $4 trillion in tax cuts over the next 5 years. A finalized reconciliation is scheduled to be passed by July 4.
‘Tear up the Bill’
Sharon Parrott, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, urged the Senate to “tear up this legislation and start again.”
“Reject any proposals that raise costs on families, take health coverage and food assistance away from families who need them, or drive up poverty and the number of people who are uninsured,” she wrote.
“The bill will drive up hunger and deepen poverty, including among children, and take access to life-saving health care away from millions of people. The Senate must reject it,” wrote Parrott.
UnidosUS dubbed the bill “an ugly, cruel and senseless piece of legislation that does absolutely nothing to help our economy or millions of working families. This bill will make life much harder for most Americans — slashing funding for health care, food and education through some of the largest cuts in US history, while even raising taxes on many low-income families.”
“It rewards the top 10% of earners with gains, while the bottom 10% are left worse off paying more and losing critical support,” stated UnidosUS.
