President Donald Trump‘s recently introduced sweeping tax and spending bill, if passed, could potentially leave thousands of Pennsylvanians without health insurance or federal food assistance. Trump’s controversial Big Beautiful Bill aims to shift some of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) costs to the state budget. It also proposes to increase the level of requirements that beneficiaries must meet to access SNAP and Medicaid.
Currently, nearly 800,000 Pennsylvania residents are covered by Medicaid, and more than 555,000 receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to state Department of Human Services figures as of April.
If the bill is signed into law, over 118,000 Pennsylvanians located in several affected districts could lose their health insurance coverage, especially with the cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, the Post-Gazette reports.
Trump’s new bill, which the Senate is reviewing after narrowly passing the House, has senators divided. Of course, Republican Reps like Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., Mike Kelly, R-PA, and Glenn Thompson argue that the bill will curb fraudulent and wasteful spending. On the other hand, reps such as Sen. John Fetterman and Summer Lee of Swissvale insist that the legislation will only be detrimental to low-income Americans.
Pennsylvania’s Governor Josh Shapiro stands with the latter group. Shapiro spoke against the bill, calling it a bad one that will only take the state backward.
“After a decade of our hard work to reduce the number of uninsured Pennsylvanians by nearly 50%, we will go backwards, and 10% of our Medicaid population will lose coverage and become uninsured.”
The governor also noted that there are about 25 rural hospitals in the state that rely on Medicaid and will be severely affected by the bill, as they operate at a deficit. He pointed out that as a result of a bill, $1 billion intended for food assistance will be allocated to the state budget, further complicating the costs of living for citizens.
Shapiro is clearly speaking for his constituents as they echoed his worries online. Numerous Americans have taken to social media, expressing concerns about how the new bill will impact their quality of life.
One user on Reddit called the bill “bullsh*t,” pointing out that it’s only meant to hurt people. “The work requirements are probably going to cost more in administrative costs than they’ll save in healthcare. It’s awful.”
Other users lamented that these are just the consequences of voting Trump into power. “It sucks for those of us who didn’t vote him who have to pay the price,” one comment read. Another user added, “Elections have consequences, but hey, at least you own the libs.”
“At some point, we have to call out what this is. It is politics based on eugenics. Like they are actively trying to kill people off,” Redditor @fujikate cried out
Another user agreed with the sentiment and shared the sad story of how her son, who is on Medicaid, will lose access to health care as a result of this bill.
“My kid will have no insurance- he’s on Medicaid. And I won’t be able to add him to my insurance when I lose my job because I work in a program that falls under Medicaid. I most definitely didn’t vote for this s**t, and neither did plenty of my clients. Do I have clients that voted for Trump? Absolutely. But I have just as many (or more) who didn’t. And who cry when I show up at their house, wondering how much longer they will have their services (not just insurance, but meals, home care, incontinent supplies, etc),” @AmberWaves80 penned.
Heartbroken, the Redditor lamented, “It’s a nightmare,” and it’s hard not to agree.
