1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

On May 22nd, House Republicans narrowly passed H.R. 1, aka the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act, a bill that funds tax cuts for the wealthy by gutting critical programs like Medicaid and Medicare. Medicaid insures 72 million low-income and disabled Americans, while Medicare insures over 55 million people, primarily seniors. H.R. 1 contains numerous provisions that endanger health care access for both Medicaid and Medicare enrollees. First, the bill imposes work requirements for nondisabled adult Medicaid enrollees. These work requirements would create administrative complexity and confusion that would cause millions to lose coverage. The bill also targets people covered via Medicaid expansion, requiring them to re-certify their eligibility twice a year and pay copays of up to $35 for services. Further, the bill would reduce federal funding for Medicaid expansion in any states that offer Medicaid coverage to lawfully present immigrants, including children and pregnant people; ban Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care; and generally make the Medicaid enrollment process more complicated and burdensome. Despite Republican promises to leave Medicare intact, the bill will trigger over $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare due to "PAYGO", a budget rule that requires any reduction in revenue to be offset by cuts in other areas of the budget. The Senate is now considering the House's budget proposal. We, your constituents, demand a budget that preserves Medicaid and Medicare coverage and benefits all Americans, not just the ultra-rich.