How Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Could Impact Your Healthcare
On July 4, 2025, Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, vowing to reduce federal spending. The legislation includes approximately $1.2 trillion in budget cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) programs that provide necessary healthcare and nutrition to people with limited resources. Trump’s bill also stipulates that as of December 31, 2026, people ages 19 to 64 must prove they work at least 80 hours per month to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Adults with dependent children under 14 and those handicapped by medical conditions will be exempt.
Consequently, a predicted 11.8 million Americans will find themselves without health insurance. Health policy nonprofit KFF Vice President Cynthia Cox estimates that by 2034, the number of uninsured citizens will boom to 17 million. At least 735,000 SNAP recipients would be at risk of losing their benefits in California alone, per Governor Newsom’s office.
This will also have an impact on small businesses.
“My hope is California won’t be affected, because California [has] the fourth biggest economy in the world,” says Binian Gebriel. Gebriel tends the counter at Fred’s Liquor and Deli on 6th Street, South of Market. “But the red states, they’re going to be affected, and [they’re] the ones who voted for him. With California, it’s gonna take a few years from now, anyways…but the cuts, in [the Tenderloin and South of Market], a lot of [the stores’ business] comes from EBT. In the first week to ten days [of every month] EBT is like 70 percent [of purchases at my store].”
In a virtual press conference held on July 10, 2025, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi denounced Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill as a “monstrosity” and expressed determination to fight back.
“I’ll just say what we’re trying to do…what we’re doing is in three channels,” she declared. “One is litigation, and we’re winning many of those cases—litigation for a lot of things that [Trump] is doing. But in this case, to continue, intensify the litigation on this, A. B: Legislation. To keep putting up legislation that corrects all of this, to just push these people into a corner, to say you’re either for this or not. Don’t say you don’t know what was in the bill. This is an attempt to correct it. So you can’t get away with saying that anymore. The third is mobilization, which is part of communication. People say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize.’ Well, we want to make sure you know. President Lincoln said, ‘Public sentiment is everything.’”
While it may be some time before certain provisions of Trump’s bill take effect, more vulnerable populations are, understandably, thinking ahead. I myself am on Medicaid, having qualified for disability, and my editor depends on Medi-Cal. That said, I’m not sure whether Trump’s regime will recognize my mental health issues as a legitimate handicap. More accurately, considering Trump has effortlessly told tens of thousands of blatant lies since he first took office, I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he moved the goalposts further from people like me.
It’s almost as if this prose piece by Pastor Martin Niemoller is coming to fruition.
I certainly hope Pelosi and the other Democrats we voted for push back effectively against this cruel abomination of a bill. Then again, time will only tell.
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