WASHINGTON, DC - When Congressional Republicans voted to pass Donald Trump’s signature tax law this July, they voted to effectively kick people off of Medicaid and SNAP, and for those who buy insurance through the ACA marketplace, raise the cost of health care later this year.

The Trump administration and Republicans are trying to rebrand the new law given it’s wide unpopularity, but they are plagued by stories about rural hospitals, clinics, food banks, school lunch programs, and more cutting services and shutting down – including in the red states and communities their members represent. Those stories make clear that Donald Trump’s policies are to blame for making communities less resilient and leaving families in the lurch. Here are just some of the latest:

NATIONAL

Rural hospitals are expected to lose money from Trump’s bill, despite RFK Jr.'s promise (Associated Press, August 27)

It’s true that Republicans established a new fund that will set aside $10 billion every year for rural hospitals, providers and clinics. But they did that to offset significant cuts that rural hospitals are expected to endure as a result of the legislation, which also slashes $1.2 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade, primarily from Medicaid.

Roughly 10 million people are expected to lose health insurance from the legislation. Most people will lose Medicaid. That will leave many hospitals with patients who can’t afford to pay for emergency services. The changes are expected to hit rural areas, where as many as 1 in 4 Americans rely on Medicaid to pay for health insurance, particularly hard.

Georgia Medicaid Recipients Face Glitches, Red Tape to Verify Work Requirements (Truthout, Aug 4)

Now that the Republicans’ big tax-and-spending bill has become law, new bureaucratic hurdles have emerged for millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for health coverage. A provision in the new law dictates that, in most states, for the first time, low-income adults must start meeting work requirements to keep their coverage.

Some states have already tried doing this, but Georgia is the only state that has an active system using work requirements to establish Medicaid eligibility — and recipients must report to the system once a month...

Health advocates point to Georgia’s system as a sign that the new law will lead to excessive red tape, improper denials, and lost health coverage.

Trump’s EV tax credit cuts are fueling a U.S. battery surplus that could lead to factory cancellations, ‘a poison pill for U.S. manufacturing hopes’ (Fortune, Aug 29)

Since President Donald Trump took away $7,500 tax credits for EVs, demand for the vehicles has slumped, contributing to a widespread battery surplus. The shift has led to a divestment in battery factory plans, a hit to Trump’s goal of bolstering U.S. manufacturing. Meanwhile, China continues to lead the world in global battery production.

TENNESSEE

‘Going to be a bloodbath’: The GOP megalaw threatens a flooded hospital’s future (POLITICO, August 24)

When Hurricane Helene forced a rural Tennessee hospital into a dramatic rooftop evacuation last September, its top executive vowed to rebuild the damaged facility as he watched the rescue unfold from a washed-out bridge.

That promise is now in peril because of the One Big Beautiful Bill... By one estimate, the law’s tax cuts could force more than 300 rural hospitals to close. In Erwin, Tennessee, it may mean Unicoi Hospital never reopens, leaving the county without any hospitals or emergency rooms.

“This is going to be a bloodbath if something isn’t changed,” said Levine, a Republican who once led Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ health care transition team. “The issue isn’t just about Unicoi and whether it reopens, it will be about how many hospitals we can even keep open.”

Healthcare access at risk due to funding cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill (Channel 3 News Memphis, Aug 27)

Many Americans are bracing for the unexpected after the passing of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill last month. Rural areas often lack access to quality care, transportation, and health literacy. Based on data from the 2010 U.S. Census, 93% of Tennessee is rural. And our neighbors in Mississippi and Arkansas are also dealing with many of the same challenges.

GEORGIA

Local rural hospital losing millions of dollars following cuts from One Big Beautiful Bill Act (WTOC 11, Aug 18)

Evans Memorial CEO Bill Lee says that the hospital will be forced to cut around $3.3 million from their annual budget. This is after the hospital also had to cut their OBGYN services.

Report: Some Georgia nursing homes at risk of closure from Medicaid cuts (Atlanta Journal Constitution, Aug 2)

As Medicaid support shrinks, rural Georgia braces for health care fallout (The Albany Herald, July 29)

Tyrae Campbell lay, bleeding out, with a gunshot wound to the torso at least 30 minutes before an ambulance arrived to transport him to receive emergency medical care.

“Watching my son lay there lifeless and knowing that there was nothing I could do to help him, was, I don’t think there’s a word that exists for how I felt,” Warren said. “I believe if an ambulance had gotten there immediately … maybe he would’ve had a chance...”

Kinsell said she expects conditions for rural hospitals in Georgia to worsen, and to states who chose to expand Medicaid, look no further than southwest Georgia for a glimpse of what Medicaid cuts will do to rural hospitals around the country.

TEXAS

West Texas Congressman’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Cuts Could Harm Rural Hospitals in His District (Texas Observer, Aug 27)

Arrington’s district is home to more rural hospitals than any other in Texas, and roughly a quarter of those are at risk of closing under the new law, according to a recent study. Six of the 25 hospitals in the 19th are at risk of closing… Arrington did not respond to the Observer’s questions about the healthcare impact residents and hospitals in his district may face under the OBBBA.

Trump's Big Beautiful Bill slashes $105M from Texas' I-35 revamp (MSN, Aug 12)

Austin city leaders confirmed in a memo on Wednesday, August 6, that the $105.2 million previously awarded to the capital city for the Our Future 35 program had been rescinded, following the removal of the Neighborhood Access Equity (NAE) Grant Program from the funding bill approved by Congress.

‘Taking away food is taking away everything’: Texans brace for SNAP cuts (Houston Public Media, Aug 18)

Texas has been called the hungriest state in the country, having the highest food insecurity rate nationwide, according to the nonprofit Feeding America. One in six Texans regularly goes hungry, a third of whom are children. That's more than 3% above the national average…

[I]n the Houston area, 92,000 people with school-aged children could lose benefits entirely under the new law, and more than 42,000 people between 55 and 64 years old could lose portions of their benefits — both because of the added work requirements she called “misguided.”

"The other narrative around all this is, ‘Well, that's OK, because folks need to work, and these folks aren't incentivized to work,'" Byers said. "The majority of SNAP participants, the majority of individuals who receive Medicaid, are working. So, you're left with these very vulnerable populations."

NORTH CAROLINA

‘What do we have to lean on?’: SNAP cuts could have big local consequences (The Charlotte Observer, Aug 28)

“The resources that they give us that are supposed to be in place to help us when we need it, they’re starting to take it all,” she said. “What do we have to lean on after that?”

President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, passed in July, slashed more than $1 trillion for Medicaid and SNAP. Now states like North Carolina must find a way to front hundreds of millions annually or cut the SNAP program altogether.

The loss of SNAP would be catastrophic for people facing food insecurity in Mecklenburg County and across the state, leaders say. With more than 137,000 Mecklenburg residents relying on SNAP, the program’s elimination would exacerbate an existing crisis that food pantries and other nonprofits don’t have the capacity to fill.

SNAP cuts could leave NC students without free or cheaper school meals (Channel 10 WAVY, Aug 16)

[F]ood banks across the state are already seeing a 20% to 50% increase in the number of families they’re helping every single day. She says without lawmakers intervening, it’ll be North Carolina’s youngest who go hungry.

“We certainly can’t expect kids to go to school and pay attention and learn and be able to advance if they’re worried about where their next meal is coming from,” Beros said.

Central NC families worry about cuts to SNAP benefits: 'Why put these hurdles in place?'

SOUTH CAROLINA

These SC nursing homes could close under Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Medicaid cuts (The Island Packet, August 22)

Eight South Carolina nursing homes are listed as being at risk of shutting down pending budget cuts laid out under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” through a study by Brown University School of Public Health.

COLORADO:

Medicaid cuts could have vast ripple effects in this rural Colorado community (KUNC, Aug 16)

“I’m trying to be worried and optimistic,” said Konnie Martin, CEO of San Luis Valley Health in Alamosa, Colorado, the hub for health care services for 50,000 people in six rural counties. Martin said Medicaid is vital to rural health care.

“I think in Colorado right now, nearly 70% of rural hospitals are operating in a negative margin,” in the red, Martin said…The operating margin is razor-thin, so federal cuts to Medicaid could force difficult cuts at SLV. “It will be devastating to us,” Mortensen said.

Colorado governor cuts spending on Medicaid, higher education and grants to plug $750M hole in state budget(The Colorado Sun, Aug 28)

Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday he will reverse the state’s plans to increase reimbursement rates for health care providers who see Medicaid recipients to help address a roughly $750 million hole in the state budget caused by the Republican federal tax and spending bill.

That will save the state about $38 million by forgoing a planned 1.6% rate hike. That’s the single biggest cut made by the governor. Polis also said he will slash spending on higher education (by some $12 million) and grants (like $2 million to tackle health disparities) as part of $252 million in total cuts and redirected spending to help balance the budget this fiscal year, which began July 1…

The governor’s office also told the JBC on Thursday that the budget situation is even worse than they previously thought because of higher than expected Medicaid enrollment. As a result, Polis plans to tap about $325 million of the state’s budget reserves to make up the difference.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky's SNAP costs will drastically increase with federal cuts. Can it cover them? (Louisville Courier Journal, Sept 2)

Kentucky, which sets its biennial budget during even-numbered years, will now have to account for millions of extra dollars in SNAP funding after Congress made significant changes to it and other federally funded programs in House Resolution 1, labeled the "One Big Beautiful Bill."

“(This) is not a short-term emergency, so I think what needs to be done is more of a longer discussion about, structurally, how do we try to address this longer term … because it could be a longer-term problem,” Hoyt said.

MICHIGAN

House GOP budget slashes Michigan’s water, health care spending: Whitmer calls for ‘serious and fast negotiations’ (Planet Detroit, Aug 28)

“The proposed state budget from the Michigan House of Representatives guts hospital funding and would be disastrous if even a semblance of the cuts eventually makes it into the state budget,” he said.

Peters said Michigan hospitals are already on track to lose $6 billion over the next 10 years because of federal budget cuts.

NEW JERSEY

N.J.’s hunger crisis intensifies amid cuts from ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’ How pantries, farmers are surviving (NJ.com, Sept 1)

Food insecurity continues to rise in New Jersey, due to numerous factors including inflation, long-term unemployment, and cuts to government assistance programs. The latest blow came from Washington earlier this summer, as the One Big Beautiful Bill, signed by President Donald Trump in July, will cut $186 billion from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through 2035.

###