1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

H.R. 1, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act, threatens Medicare with devastating automatic cuts despite repeated promises that the program would remain untouched. I urge you to sponsor and support legislation that would exempt Medicare from the automatic cuts triggered by this bill's deficit increases under the Pay-As-You-Go Act. The mathematics are stark. H.R. 1 increases the federal deficit substantially, and under PAYGO rules, this triggers mandatory spending reductions. Medicare faces an estimated $490 billion in cuts over the next decade, with a 4% reduction in payments to hospitals, doctors, and providers beginning as soon as January 2026. These cuts will directly harm seniors' access to care at a time when healthcare costs continue to rise. The $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts already included in H.R. 1 will strain our healthcare system. Adding automatic Medicare cuts on top of this creates a crisis for older Americans who depend on these services. Hospitals and providers already operating on thin margins will face impossible choices about whether they can continue serving Medicare patients. Rural hospitals, which serve disproportionate numbers of Medicare beneficiaries, are particularly vulnerable to closure. Seniors in our community planned their retirements around the promise of Medicare coverage. They paid into this system throughout their working lives with the understanding that it would be there when they needed it. Breaking that promise by allowing automatic cuts to proceed undermines the fundamental social contract and places their health at risk. I am asking you to take immediate action to protect Medicare from these automatic cuts. Sponsor or cosponsor legislation that exempts Medicare from PAYGO reductions triggered by H.R. 1. Lawmakers made a commitment that Medicare would not be touched. Now is the time to honor that commitment with concrete legislative action that shields seniors from the consequences of deficit increases they did not create.