John,

I wanted to make sure you saw Deborah’s email yesterday about the horrible SNAP cuts in the Senate version of the Big Brutal Bill. Sadly, the Senate isn’t stopping with the biggest cuts in history to SNAP; they’re also going after Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. These attacks will leave 16 million without health insurance,¹ drive up health costs for all of us, and have horrific consequences in rural communities in particular. These are life and death decisions, yet policymakers are trying to rush through this package with last minute changes.

People deserve to have health care and the passage of this bill would leave communities across the country without the care they need, leading to severely negative health outcomes, including death. In fact, an analysis by the U/Penn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics² estimated that more than 51,000 people would die each year because of the cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and reduced staffing requirements at nursing homes—provisions in the bill that passed the House and are being considered in the Senate.

Additionally, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as many as 330 rural hospitals nationwide could close or reduce services as a result of this bill.³ This is because rural hospitals take a high share of Medicaid patients and the Big Brutal Bill would inflict more than $800 billion in Medicaid cuts—the largest cut in Medicaid history. And, new research shows that cuts to Medicaid along with SNAP will reduce jobs by 1.2 million nationwide, equivalent to about a 0.8% increase in the unemployment rate.⁴

Send a message to Congress urging them to reject the Medicaid cuts in this bill, because it’s a matter of life and death.

Cutting the heart out of basic needs programs including SNAP and Medicaid doesn’t save states or the federal government money—it denies care and creates bigger problems down the road, shifting the burden to service providers, local and state governments, and taxpayers. This will lead to higher costs and more strain on budgets—household and state budgets alike. And it will cost lives.

Families and communities will feel the compounding impact of cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other health assistance along with other basic needs programs—making the combined budget package even more reckless. Our voices are critical in this moment.

Join us in calling on the Senate to reject drastic cuts to SNAP and Medicaid.

Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ By the Numbers: Senate Republican Leadership’s Health Agenda Takes Health Coverage Away From Millions of People and Raises Families’ Costs
² Research Memo: Projected Mortality Impacts of the Budget Reconciliation Bill
³ Wyden, Merkley, Markey, Schumer Release Data Detailing Hundreds of Rural Hospitals Across U.S. at Risk Due to Republican Health Care Cuts
⁴ How Medicaid and SNAP Cutbacks in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Would Trigger Big and Bigger Job Losses Across States

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

The Senate is preparing to vote this week on its version of the Big Brutal Bill and—like its House counterpart—it’s devastating for nutrition and health care programs for vulnerable communities.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s portion of the bill will reportedly cut $211 billion from SNAP, which, if passed, would be the largest cut to SNAP in history, as part of a budget package that guts basic needs programs.¹ Millions of Americans are at risk of losing SNAP—and millions more will see benefits reduced, making it harder to put food on the table.

The plan would shift considerable costs to states. The majority of states would have to pay between 5-15% of the cost of SNAP for the first time. This amounts to millions of dollars that most states cannot afford, so it could result in millions of people either being put on waiting lists or denied SNAP benefits altogether.² We are celebrating that the the Senate Parliamentarian—who determines how the Senate can use the budget process to “fast track” legislation—ruled late Friday that the Senate cannot include this radical new proposal as written.³ But there are reports that Senate Republicans are seeking to work around this ruling, so we must continue to speak out against this untenable cost-shift to states along with other deep cuts to SNAP.

We cannot let people go hungry in order to give tax handouts to the wealthy. Send a message to Congress today, urging them to reject drastic cuts to SNAP.

The Senate Agriculture Committee proposal also takes away SNAP benefits from unemployed workers and their whole families through harsher work reporting requirements. For the first time, 2.1 million parents with children over 9 years old in every state are at risk of losing SNAP after just 3 months—which means less food on the table for families with school-aged children in every state.⁴ One in 5 SNAP recipients, including 2.5 million children and 8 million people total, are at risk of losing food assistance under these new “job loss penalties” that will apply to parents and older adults for the first time.⁵ There is no provision for child care when work hours don’t mesh with school hours, and no exemption during the summer. And we know from prior experience with these rules that many people are unable to provide the documentation either to show they are working, or that they are exempt. A study in Connecticut found that people who wound up losing SNAP were likely to have a disability, and did not manage to increase their work.⁶

It’s not too late to change course. Now more than ever, it’s critical that the Senate stop this rushed attack on basic needs and instead act to protect health care, nutrition, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs. We should strengthen support for these programs—not take them away.  

Send a message to the Senate urging them to reject cuts to SNAP and to strengthen human needs programs.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

P.S. Right now, I am fasting to take part in the #EmptyPlateProtest hunger strike relay, where activists across the country are fasting for 24 hours between now and when Congress goes on its 4th of July recess. Click here to learn more, pledge to fast, and take action to oppose these immoral cuts.

¹ MAZON Slams Senate Reconciliation Text as Dangerous Assault on Food Assistance Programs
² States Would Face New Costs, Likely Enact Harmful Cuts Under Senate Reconciliation Plan
³ Senate Official Rejects Food Aid Cuts Proposed by Republicans in Megabill
⁴ Research Note: Expanded Work Requirements in Senate Agriculture Committee Proposal Would Take Away Food Assistance From Millions: State Estimates
⁵ Millions at Risk of Losing Food Assistance Under Senate Proposal to Expand SNAP’s Work Requirement to Older Adults & Caregivers of Children as Young as 10
⁶ Journal of the American Medical Assn: SNAP Work Requirements Reversal and Program Enrollment