07.03.2025 / Statement

Families USA Statement After Republicans Force Through Biggest Cuts to Medicaid in History

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, today released the following statement after House Republicans passed the final budget bill that guts funding for Medicaid, terminates health care coverage for at least 17 million Americans, increases health care costs and devastates our nation’s health care system. The bill now heads to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

“All Americans should be not just angry but furious by the passage of this budget bill that makes history in all the worst ways — including as the biggest rollback of coverage and the biggest cut to health care this country has ever seen. Members of Congress who supported this bill will be haunted by this vote for a long time, unable to hide from the cascading consequences of cutting more than a trillion dollars from our nation’s health care system. Because of the votes for this bill, we will start to see a dramatic return of millions more uninsured Americans, living sicker, dying younger, racking up medical debt and knowing they are just one emergency from financial ruin.

“Americans will know who to blame for spiking premiums and cost-sharing, more bureaucratic barriers to coverage and care, scaled-back benefits and closed services, if not loss of their public or private health plan. When health insurance premiums spike later this year, Americans should remember this bill as a primary reason. When people get trapped in a web of complex and confusing paperwork just to get on and stay on coverage, they should remember that those bureaucratic barriers were intentionally placed by this big, bad bill and its backers. When rural hospitals, maternity wards, nursing homes and Planned Parenthood and other clinics close, Americans should remember this bill as a leading factor. When states face budget shortfalls and make dramatic cuts to health care benefits and services next year and over the next several years, much of that blowback should be borne by those who backed this bill. When millions of Americans get pushed and priced out of both public and private health coverage, they and their families and neighbors will know to place the blame squarely at the feet of those who voted for this disastrous bill. The standard rule applies to the health system and this bill’s backers, that they broke it, they bought it.

“No one voted for, nor campaigned for, massive Medicaid cuts or taking food away from low-income families or shredding our social safety net, but that’s exactly what President Trump and leaders in Congress have done in a reckless rush. President Trump and Congressional Republicans made promise after promise to the American people that they would not touch Medicaid, while making the biggest cut to Medicaid in its history. They lie about the bill because they know its contents are wildly unpopular with Americans across the political spectrum. This bill was opposed by the whole health sector, from doctors to nurses, hospitals to health plans, patient groups to providers, and the public at large. The President and his party broke their promises and violated any sense of proper legislative process without a single hearing to jam through this bill that only benefits the wealthy and corporations.

“The bill funds tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthy by looting the health system and the treasury. If they had held hearings and had a proper process, they might have found other ways to find savings in our health system. Families USA and other consumer advocates have long supported commonsense and bipartisan policies that would actually eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our system — but none of those real reforms are included in this budget bill. They could have prevented the price gouging of patients in big corporate hospital systems or stopped Medicare Advantage overpayments and the gaming of the system. They could have ensured that families and small businesses were protected from facility fees and dishonest billing practices. Instead, this big budget betrayal was nothing more than a massive giveaway to billionaires and big corporations, paid for by ripping health care away from low-income, working-class families across America.

“This vote is a wrecking ball to our health system and a gut punch to all of us who fight for better health and health care for all, but we know the fight isn’t over. Congressional Republicans’ attempt eight years ago to repeal the ACA set off a massive political backlash, one that will likely pale in comparison to the outrage that Members are going to hear from their constituents about this betrayal. We share that fury that so many feel, and vow to hold those Members accountable for this attack on our coverage, costs, care, and communities. Our work doesn’t stop — it multiplies into 50 state capitols to face the fallout. We commit to work with state policymakers and advocates to both mitigate and document the damage. With so many impacted by not just an attempt to repeal the ACA, but the passage of cuts to coverage and care of a similar size, we will work to engage and organize all those facing higher costs and less access. We’ll work not just to undo the disastrous impacts of this bill, but to help federal and state policymakers rebuild and re-envision a better health system that works for all Americans. While we reel from this serious setback, we recommit to push for real solutions that will actually expand access, lower costs and improve the quality of our health care for all.”