You can’t handle the truth
The potential coverage losses are mounting for low- and moderate-income Americans eligible for Medicaid and Marketplace coverage today.
If you’re reading The 80 Million, we know you can handle the truth: Millions of Americans will lose health care access if the Senate passes the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It’s also just not from Medicaid cuts and work requirements. The Marketplaces are an essential part of the continuum of affordable health coverage for low- and moderate-income people, along with Medicaid — especially for folks whose families rely on or move between the two. Marketplaces and the people enrolled in Marketplace coverage today will be seriously affected by proposed changes to verification requirements. All in, we’re bracing for impact.
The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act Cuts Medicaid Benefits for 1 in 10 Enrollees
The House of Representatives passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” through the budget reconciliation process on May 22. The bill, which the Senate has now taken up, has provisions that will result in 8.7 million fewer Medicaid enrollees, or about one in 10 Medicaid beneficiaries losing coverage. In states like Nevada, Louisiana and Oregon, enrollment reductions could reach 15% or more.
While coverage losses will be concentrated in Medicaid expansion groups, largely due to work requirements, the repeal of two eligibility and enrollment rules is expected to cause nearly 600,000 children and more than 200,000 pregnant women, parents and caretakers of dependent children to lose health coverage. All in, 2.1 million people will not have Medicaid coverage due to the change, per Manatt Health’s state impact assessment, produced with input from State Health and Value Strategies.
It’s not just enrollees who will face hardship. States, including those that didn’t expand Medicaid, will lose a significant amount of federal funding over the next decade — which will impact the entire health care delivery system, especially in rural areas. States may also incur steep penalties for covering certain immigrants (the majority of which are children).
Keep reading at The 80 Million.
We Interrupt This Program for a Marketplace Alert: Reenrollment Rollback Risks Significant Coverage Loss
The House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (“House bill”) erects barriers to coverage by increasing verification requirements for financial assistance and ending automatic reenrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) health insurance Marketplaces — a coverage pathway chosen by 10.8 million people for 2025 coverage, or 45% of all Marketplace enrollments.
The House-passed bill’s changes to verification processes would eradicate recent years’ coverage gains by ratcheting up “hassle factors” at the time of reenrollment. The result would be lower enrollment and higher premiums, as younger and healthier people opt out of Marketplace coverage and trigger higher premiums for others in the market.
CBO estimates that only 700,000 people would lose coverage under the onerous new requirements. This estimate greatly understates the likely impact. Overall, CBO’s estimate that the Marketplace provisions will increase the number of uninsured people by only 4 million people underestimates the House bill’s real-world impact on low- and moderate-income families who rely on financial help to afford private insurance coverage.
Keep reading at The 80 Million.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom highlighted the impact of health care cuts in the House reconciliation bill, including terminating coverage for up to 3.4 million Californians, a reduction of $22 billion in federal funding from work requirement-related coverage losses, and a cut of at least $4 billion annually for California’s coverage of undocumented residents using state funds, among others.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy held a second roundtable discussion with Medicaid recipients whose lives would be impacted by the House-approved budget bill.
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh, Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys, and Pennie Executive Director Devon Trolley highlighted the importance of Medicaid in providing health care coverage to millions of Pennsylvanians amid proposed federal cuts to the program, which would terminate coverage for more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians.
80 Million subscribers: Keep an eye out for our next Ask Manatt Anything webinar. We’re limiting seats, so watch this space to secure your spot.
Medicaid cuts could devastate hundreds of rural hospitals in GOP states, Democrats say – CBS News
Trump tax bill will cost poorest Americans $1,600 per year with cuts to Medicaid, food assistance – MarketWatch
What Are ‘Improper’ Medicaid Payments, and Are They as High as a Trump Official Said? – KFF Health News
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