{"id":7082,"date":"2025-06-01T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T00:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=7082"},"modified":"2025-05-27T23:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T23:51:19","slug":"house-passes-budget-bill-eviscerating-medicaid-and-food-assistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=7082","title":{"rendered":"House Passes Budget Bill, Eviscerating Medicaid and Food Assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
By<\/span> Sunita Sohrabji<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

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.<\/p>\n

Several organizations immediately voiced their concerns over the measure, noting that at least 13 million would lose health care coverage<\/a>, and millions of low-income people, including children and seniors, would face food insecurity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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% of Medicaid recipients already work, noted KFF<\/a> in a study released earlier this year.<\/p>\n

New Work Requirements<\/h2>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the work requirement would encourage young people to contribute to society rather than \u201cplaying video games all day.\u201d Krystal Milam, National Policy & Advocacy Director\u00a0at\u00a0Young\u00a0Invincibles, opposed Johnson\u2019s characterization of young adults. \u201cToo many in Congress are willing to throw millions of\u00a0young\u00a0people under the bus if it means the richest can get a little richer. While\u00a0young\u00a0people are fighting to achieve basic stability, Congress is rushing through reckless cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and higher education,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Work requirements were originally scheduled to begin in 2029, but the bill now mandates that states must begin implementation by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Some Republican Opposition<\/h2>\n

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. \u201cMajor provisions of the big beautiful bill are still being negotiated and written. Yet we are being told we will vote on it today. Shouldn\u2019t we take more than a few hours to read a bill this big and this consequential?\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, also decried the speed at which the bill was passed. \u201cFor what they themselves indicate is the most consequential piece of legislation in a generation, they aren\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t 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,\u201d said Wright.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tear Up the Bill\u2019<\/h2>\n

Sharon Parrott, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, urged the Senate to \u201ctear up this legislation and start again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReject 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\u00a0uninsured,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d wrote Parrott.<\/p>\n

UnidosUS dubbed the bill \u201can 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 \u2014 slashing funding for health care, food and education through some of the largest cuts in U.S. history, while even raising taxes on many low-income families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt rewards the top 10% of earners with gains, while the bottom 10% are left worse off paying more and losing critical support,\u201d stated UnidosUS.<\/p>\n

Source: Published without changes from American Community Media<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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