Disappointing news…
Despite intense pressure from Medicaid advocates, the U.S. House passed the budget reconciliation bill 218 to 214 at 2:30 pm Eastern Time today. Representatives Thomas Massie and Brian Fitzpatrick voted no on the bill, also known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). The President is expected to sign the bill tomorrow morning at a signing ceremony. The bill is expected to result in nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next ten years—the single largest cut to Medicaid ever.
We know that many of you are scared, anxious, and wondering how this might affect people with disabilities. So many of you have worked so hard to share your stories about Medicaid and SNAP, how important these programs are for everyday disabled people. It’s exhausting to feel like you always have to fight just to live. It’s also exhausting to feel like you have to put your personal business on display, to people who may not even care about disability at all.
It’s important to keep in mind that there is a whole stage of advocacy that comes after a budget reconciliation bill is passed. This bill was designed to be implemented over ten years. So it is important to ask WHEN changes might occur, HOW they might occur, and WHO is supposed to deal with the changes.
To help, we are setting up a Community Briefing to support you on what’s next.
Join us on Tuesday, July 8, for an online Knowledge is Power Community Briefing with our partners at the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities (ICDD). The briefing will be from 2 pm to 3:30 pm Central time, on Zoom webinar. Access Living and ICDD advocates will lead a presentation on what the OBBB means for people with disabilities, and what we can do to push back against cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. We will also talk about the regular budget appropriations process, which will start being fought this month.
Register for the Community Briefing at this link. You will receive an email with instructions on how to join the Zoom. ASL, captions, and Spanish translation will be available.For the moment, we are proud of each and every advocate who fought for months to stop the OBBB. We made it a very difficult decision, and we made Medicaid and SNAP matter. The process was stressful, and while people may feel discouraged for now, please take time to rest this weekend. Then come back and join us for the next phase of advocacy on Tuesday. We are grateful to everyone who worked so hard to fight this bill. You matter! We’re not done yet.