There’s nothing scarier this Halloween than Donald Trump’s disregard for the working class.
Washington, DC — More than 42 million Americans could lose out on food assistance soon and millions more will have to decide whether they can afford to buy health insurance on the ACA marketplace.
A judge on Friday ruled that emergency funds need to be used to continue the food assistance for a period of time, but it is unclear exactly how long those funds will last.
Not only has the Trump administration failed to bring down everyday costs, it is making financial conditions notably worse for people by refusing to extend food stamps and tax credits that would keep ACA costs from rising significantly.
Meanwhile, Democrats continue to call on Republican members to return to Washington to negotiate an end to the shutdown. Attorneys general from 25 states sued the Trump administration to release SNAP contingency funding.
Fair Share America executive director Kristen Crowell went on Richard Chew’s radio show this week to talk about people Fair Share America has heard from around the country who will be seriously impacted by Donald Trump and Republicans’ refusal to fund SNAP, negotiate, and reopen the government. Listen here.
NEWS ROUND UP FROM THE STATES
NC SNAP recipients react to funding freeze, brace for impact on feeding family (ABC 11)
“It makes me really sad because you got all these children that had nothing to do with the choices of the adults in their lives. They’re the ones that are going to suffer the most,” said Julie Rappleyea, a Durham grandmother who relies on SNAP. She cares for her two grandchildren.
“They don’t understand as children. Why don’t we have the food that we had last week? And it’s really frustrating and scary for them. I don’t want to scare the kids, but they are aware that is happening,” Rappleyea explained.
‘It keeps me alive’: Arizona cancer survivor, 67, faces food stamp cutoff as SNAP funding collapses nationwide (Yahoo Finance)
Barbara Schulz already beat cancer, but now the 67-year-old from Tucson, Arizona is preparing for another life-changing battle: surviving without her monthly SNAP, or food stamps, benefits… As such, she says she’ll just have to cope, eating smaller portions of the food that she needs to maintain her health. “I’ll have to make it last,” she said. “That’s my only choice until I can hopefully find some work.”
Breast cancer survivor says her ACA premiums will more than double if tax credits aren’t extended (ABC News)
“If the subsidy continues, my monthly premium will be $453 a month. But if the subsidy does not continue, it’ll be $1,018 a month,” she said. Her out-of-pocket max would also jump an additional $600, according to Graham.
“It’s as basic as food,” Graham said of health care. “We all need to have access and people should not go bankrupt for having a cancer diagnosis or an accident, or — it just shouldn’t be. I just don’t understand it.”
With rising healthcare costs and no raise, this NC teacher’s family sells scrap metal and plasma (WUNC)
North Carolina’s state budget is now nearly four months overdue. For public school employees, that means the school year started without a cost-of-living raise. “Now we feel like we’ve trimmed all the fat we can from our budget, and so now we’re trying to be a little more creative,” Reed said, like collecting that scrap metal to pay for her daughters’ big trip with their school band.
She added: “It’s really disheartening that after this long in education, that we are having to resort to things like that.” Reed’s husband has also been donating plasma, and plans to use the money from that to help pay for Christmas presents this year.
How higher ACA premiums and Trump’s trade wars could bankrupt Pennsylvania farmers (The PA Independent)
“We’re pretty concerned,” said Krug, who owns Endless Roots Farm in Waverly together with her husband Mike. “I mean, for us, we have a couple of options. It’s either getting crappy health care, which we already have a high deductible for, so I can’t imagine getting something different; going without, which is just not an option; and then one of us getting an off-farm job that has benefits, which for us is pretty heartbreaking.”
NH struggles with government shutdown, state budget shortfalls (Public News Service)
“A lot of folks right now are feeling the squeeze,” Meyer observed. “But that has also been the reality for a lot of working people in this state and in this country for a long time.”
He pointed out tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy have drained more than $1 billion from the state budget over the past decade, leaving communities with inadequate housing, child care and health care. Two rural health centers in Franconia and Canaan have already announced their closure due to federal Medicaid cuts.
Florida’s insurance hikes and uninsured rates will be among nation’s largest if ACA credits expire (NBC 6 South Florida)
Florida has more people enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans than any state — around 4.7 million in 2025. About 97% of enrollees receive a discount that makes their plans cheaper… That disparity is largely because Florida did not expand Medicaid eligibility, making the ACA the main pathway for people with lower incomes to obtain affordable coverage. Many people with ACA coverage are self-employed or work for a small business.
SNAP benefit freeze will leave millions nationwide struggling to pay for food — including 472,711 people in Philadelphia (The Conversation)
Studies have also found that when eligible families lose access to SNAP benefits, even temporarily, they are more likely to get sick, and their children are at a greater risk of developmental delays.
Additionally, losing SNAP and similar benefits can strain household finances, forcing low-income people to choose between skipping meals or forgoing other basic needs like rent, utilities and prescription drugs.
What to know about the SNAP pause as 48K Bucks County residents are set to lose food aid (Bucks County Courier Times)
Nearly 50,000 Bucks County residents are set to lose food assistance Nov. 1. Further, tens of thousands more may see the effects at food banks because of both the federal shutdown and Pennsylvania’s budget impasse.
An average Pennsylvania SNAP recipient receives approximately $6 per day, according to data from September. Meanwhile, state food aid is also frozen amid the state budget impasse.
Hobbs calls Trump’s SNAP reversal ‘appalling’ as 923k Arizonans face loss of food aid (AZ Mirror)
“Vulnerable Arizonans cannot afford to be used as leverage by Washington Republicans,” Hobbs said in a written statement. “It’s appalling that this administration is choosing to take food out of the hands of Arizona families.”
SNAP provides food assistance to around 923,400 Arizonans, around 12% of the state’s population, according to information from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More than 68% of SNAP recipients in the Grand Canyon State are in families with children, nearly 29% are in families with older or disabled adults and 40% of recipients are members of working families.
SNAP funding in Wisconsin is running out. Farmers and businesses brace for impact (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Local farmers and businesses in Wisconsin are bracing for impact as funding for the state’s federal food assistance program is set to run out by November… Both downtown Janesville and the city’s south side are considered food deserts due to a lack of accessible grocery stores with affordable, fresh produce options. Koch said that many SNAP recipients rely on the farmers’ market for fresh options.
Why health care costs will skyrocket in Pennsylvania (The Keystone)
It is estimated that up to 250,000 Pennie customers could lose their coverage without the tax credits. According to Pennie, rural Pennsylvanians will be disproportionately affected, while urban areas are expected to see higher levels of disenrollment.
Residents living along and near the Appalachian ridge and Piedmont regions in Central and Southcentral Pennsylvania are expected to see largest premium increases spanning a 169% increase in York County to a 485% increase in Juniata County.
Expiring ACA tax credit could have major economic impacts on Georgia, study reveals (Savannah Morning News)
Report: Ending Affordable Care Act subsidies could raise Georgia health costs by $2 billion (The Current)
Ending the subsidies will mean $1.6 billion in lost revenue for hospitals in Georgia next year — and lead to $2 billion in higher costs for Georgians who rely on these plans for health insurance, according to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute, which study health care policy and the consequences of federal social safety net programs.
This projected hit to Georgia businesses and families is the third largest among all 50 states, behind Florida and Texas, according to the study.
Texas could bear the brunt of expiring ACA tax credits. Is the GOP delegation willing to make a deal? (The Texas Tribune)
The average annual premium for a family of four enrolled in ACA coverage dropped from $3,744 in 2021 to $1,632 in 2025, according to estimates from health policy organization KFF. But if the tax credits are allowed to expire, that figure would jump back up to $3,408.
Advocates for the credits have tried to bring Texas lawmakers around by noting that an expiration would be far more painful in Texas than elsewhere. KFF projects that 3.98 million Americans will drop coverage if the enhanced tax credits expire — and of those, 1.04 million, or 26%, will come from Texas.
North Texas hospitals provide billions in uncompensated care. ACA changes could increase that burden (Kera News)
A Texas health leader estimates hospitals could be responsible for more than $1 billion in additional uncompensated care if federal lawmakers don’t extend a subsidy that makes health insurance on the federal marketplace more affordable…
A DFWHC economic impact study found that 89 hospitals in North Texas provided almost $7 billion in uncompensated care last year. Love said the cost in Texas is higher than other states because it has the worst uninsured rate in the country.
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Fair Share America has been at the forefront of the fight for tax justice and public investment across the country — mobilizing communities, challenging power, and helping to shape the national narrative from the states. Learn more on our website: www.fairshareusa.org/.
