May 23, 2025
House Passes One Big, Brutal Budget Bill — Seniors’ Health and Security at Risk
In the early hours of Thursday morning, House Republicans narrowly passed their budget proposal, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1), by a vote of 215-214. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The vote was deeply divided. Only two Republicans — Representatives Thomas Massie (KY) and Warren Davidson (OH) — joined all Democrats in opposing the measure. Representatives David Schweikert (AZ) and Andrew Garbarino (NY) missed the vote but indicated they would have supported it.
The bill includes $715 billion in cuts to Medicaid and $300 billion to food assistance programs over the next decade. These cuts would be used to fund massive tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations. According to analysts, individuals earning $1 million or more per year would receive nearly $90,000 annually in tax breaks, while families earning under $50,000 would get less than $1 a day in relief.
The scale of the health care cuts is historic and is expected to cause at least 13 million Americans of all ages to lose coverage and jeopardize the operation of hospitals and nursing homes,
particularly in rural communities.
Medicaid is particularly important to seniors, serving some of the most vulnerable Americans including 860,000 who rely on it to pay for nursing home care and another 5.6 million who receive
home care services and supports funded by Medicaid. 11.5 million Medicare beneficiaries also rely on Medicaid to help pay for prescription drugs, co-pays, and other medical services.
In the case of food assistance, nearly 11 million people could see at least some cut in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to expansions to burdensome paperwork requirements included in the legislation and shifting costs to the states. 6.5 million seniors receive food assistance today.
“This bill takes food and health care away from those who need it most, just to fund tax giveaways for the wealthiest,” said Robert Roach, Jr., President of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “It’s outrageous, and we cannot let it become law. We must raise our voices and demand the Senate put a stop to this insane cruelty.”
ACTION NEEDED: Click here to send a message to your member of Congress demanding they vote against any Medicaid cuts.
This was originally published in the May 23, 2025 edition of the Friday Alert. Read the full length version and see other Friday Alert editions here.