Join us on June 6!

Last year, lawmakers passed over $1 trillion in health funding cuts as part of H.R. 1 (the omnibus spending legislation misnamed the “Big Beautiful Bill,” July 2025). The most severe consequences of these cuts will not take effect until December of this year. The delay in these cuts is by design—lawmakers are hoping we won’t notice until it’s too late to vote against them in the midterms.

These cuts will be devastating.

When cuts are made to Medicaid, individuals who depend on coverage are affected. Hospitals are also affected. As a result of ACA subsidy cuts that took place at the end of 2025, several rural hospitals have closed across the country. With added restrictions on Medicaid reimbursement and with expected decline in Medicaid enrollment, an estimated 446 additional hospitals are at risk of closing or reducing services. That means that every person who relies on those hospitals is affected.

There are some key changes that are set to take effect at the very end of 2026.

1. Medicaid will implement work requirements. 

Enrollees between the ages of 16 and 64 (with few exceptions) would be required to demonstrate each month that they’re spending at least 80 hours per month of work, school, or volunteer activity to retain coverage. In addition to work requirements that may be unattainable for some Medicaid enrollees, this requirement will add the burden of reporting hours to those enrollees already meeting this requirement. It will also put the burden of navigating complex exemptions on enrollees.

2. States will be required to reevaluate Medicaid eligibility every six months for certain groups (instead of the current twelve-month requirement).

Experts warn that this will lead to more people losing coverage due to paperwork issues or missed deadlines. This requirement, along with the work requirement, is expected to cause 1.5 million beneficiaries to lose coverage in rural areas alone.

The added reevaluation also requires more money at the state level for administrative work.

3. The law also will further restrict Medicaid eligibility for some lawfully present immigrant populations.

This will reduce access to coverage for groups that already face barriers to care—a change that might carry broad consequences.

When immigrants lose access to Medicaid, they’re more likely to delay treatment, skip preventive care, and rely on emergency rooms when health problems become severe. Those visits are likely to cost a lot and often go unpaid, shifting costs to hospitals, states, and, ultimately, other patients. 

This past week, Heather Cox Richardson interviewed Cleve Jones, the founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. He is now lead organizer and a founder of Seven Days in June: Health is Primary. This is a nonpartisan, grassroots-driven campaign to focus on how funding cuts will devastate local communities and a national call to elevate health as a governing priority. This organization has called for communities to come together to call attention to the huge issue of healthcare in the U.S.

 “When federal health funds disappear, the burden doesn’t vanish—it falls on us. Local hospitals will be forced into mass layoffs, and county governments will have to drastically hike local property taxes to pay for uncompensated emergency care.”

What can you do?

Join the Saturday protest on River on June 6 from noon to 1:00 p.m. for a healthcare focused protest!  Bring a sign addressing healthcare in general, or Medicaid, affordability, or other specific issues.

Call and write your representatives. Let them know that you are aware of the cuts slated for the month after the midterms. Ask how funding for the health of Americans was deemed unavailable, yet funding for illegal wars was found.

Share this information with your community.

VOTE! This Congress pushed through the bill that is crippling a medical system that was already in need of repair. Vote for change. And let the candidates that you support know that you expect healthcare to be a priority.

Want to learn more? Here are some resources:

• Seven Days In June: A National Call to Elevate Health as a Governing Priority | Seven Days in June
• Heather Cox Richardson interviews Cleve Jones: American Conversations: Cleve Jones
• The Big Ugly Threat to Safety Net Hospitals: The Big Ugly Threat to Safety Net Hospitals: Public Citizen
• Yale School of Public Health: Proposed changes to Medicaid, other health programs could lead to over 51,000 preventable deaths, researchers warn | Yale School of Public Health
• What’s Changing with Medicaid Eligibility: Guide to Medicaid Eligibility Changes Coming in 2026 and Beyond | U.S. News
• Summary of Federal Medicaid Work Requirements: A Summary of Federal Medicaid Work Requirements: Center for Health Care Strategies
• Estimated Impact on Medicaid Enrollment and Hospital Expenditures in Rural Communities: National Rural Health Association

Photo by Derek Finch on Unsplash