There’s little to celebrate on Medicaid’s anniversary

July 30 marked 60 years of the nation’s most popular health care programs, Medicaid and Medicare, signed into law by President Johnson in 1965. Most years, the birthday of these critical programs is an opportunity to commemorate their strong legacy and contributions to the health and economic security of countless Americans.

But this year it is more an occasion for worry than celebration. Recent changes signed into law by President Donald Trump and supported by Sens. Grassley and Ernst and Reps. Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Nunn and Feenstra have strong potential to raise health care costs, take away coverage and drive rural providers out of business.

Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) — a massive piece of legislation that adds over$4 trillion to the national debt on July Fourth. That amount is largely driven by the trillions of extended tax breaks and addition of new tax loopholes for corporations that will help the wealthy get wealthier. To pay for a portion of the tax breaks, the bill made historically big cuts to Medicaid, an important source of coverage for all kinds of people.

This irresponsible bill makes massive cuts to coverage, puts jobs and providers at risk, and shifts responsibility to state budgets at a time when federal funding for everything is being cut. And the price of goods and services is skyrocketing. This is not the kind of economic policy that helps Iowa families. Congress should be lowering prices and investing in Medicaid and Medicare for the future.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that around 10 million people will lose coverage under the new law. An estimated 106,781 enrollees in Iowa are included in that number. Many gained that coverage thanks to Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which for the first time allowed contractors, small business people, low-wage workers, veterans and full-time caregivers to get coverage.

Medicaid is jointly funded by the state and the federal government. In both rural and urban settings, Medicaid provides health care to over 70 million people — that’s one in five Americans. But in rural communities, Medicaid covers a larger share of the population — one in four people and plays an even bigger role in the economy since rural hospitals are central to health access and economic activity in these areas. In Iowa Medicaid covers 603,000.

The $1.02 trillion cut to Medicaid in the new law will not only cut off access to affordable health care by decimating coverage and forcing the closure of rural hospitals and nursing homes, it will eliminate jobs, deflate economic activity and leave our communities worse off.

Given the economic uncertainty in these times, tariffs that are increasing the cost of consumer goods even beyond the already sky-high prices we can’t afford, and the persistent price gouging from drug and insurance corporations, Congress should be expanding Medicaid not shrinking it.

Every bill that passes into law should prioritize average working people above wealthy households and Wall Street corporations that are already making money hand over fist on the stock market while the rest of us are clipping coupons and pinching pennies. We all love a tax break, but the modest tax breaks that will come to working and middle class families under this new law won’t be enough to compensate them for the increased cost of health care or the loss of coverage that many will face.

The choice couldn’t be plainer: give large profitable corporations huge tax breaks or ensure over 603,000 Iowa residents can afford health care coverage and groceries. It shouldn’t be a close call. If our Iowa members of Congress really care about working Iowans as they claim, they should do the right thing and save health care and food assistance for families by demanding huge corporations pay their fair share of taxes instead of giving them more special breaks.

The ugly truth about this bill is that when it comes to health care, there’s not much to celebrate.

Sue Dinsdale is the Executive Director of Iowa Citizen Action Network and the State Lead for Health Care for America NOW.