Giving Compass' Take:
- Danielle Nierenberg reports on how food assistance and Medicaid are facing historic funding cuts as a new Bill heads to the Senate.
- What systems change needs to occur to protect equitable access to vital food assistance and health care?
- Learn more about key issues in food and nutrition and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on food equity in your area.
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I’m sad. I’m angry about cuts to food assistance and Medicaid.
By a margin of just one vote, the United States House of Representatives passed a massive legislation package, championed by President Donald Trump, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The legislation would cut about US$1.5 trillion in federal spending, with a target on programs that provide vital food assistance and healthcare.
After being passed by the House about a week ago, the Bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces a likely weeks- or months-long revision process before a vote there. Simply put, we cannot afford to see this legislation be enacted into law—so it’s vital that, as citizen eaters, we raise our voices right now and let our elected officials know where we stand.
“Without exaggeration, Congress is advancing the most devastating attack on food assistance in our lifetime,” Erin McAleer, President & CEO of Project Bread, tells Food Tank. “The American people are already hurting, struggling to keep up with the cost of living and putting food on their tables…Congress is proposing to add more barriers, to take benefits away from the poorest families, and we need everyone to take action now to stop these harmful attacks on American residents.”
The Bill represents the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history. Over the next decade, US$267 billion would be pulled from SNAP alone, and nearly 11 million people would see some cuts to their ability to access food relief.
On the healthcare front, the proposal will slash US$625 billion from Medicaid over the next decade, which would kick more than 10 million people off enrollment, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health organization. In some states, like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, up to one-third of all people with coverage through Obamacare-era Medicaid expansion programs would lose it.
The proposal also calls for strict work requirements for both SNAP and Medicare recipients, which have been shown time and time again to be ineffective and, actually, disproportionately impact middle-aged and older women.
Read the full article about food assistance and Medicaid facing cuts by Danielle Nierenberg at Food Tank.