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Proposed federal spending cuts to health care in Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” may increase some families’ medical debts by as much as $22,800, according to a new report from Third Way, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
The Republican budget bill proposes $1.1 trillion in cuts to health care that target both Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage.
The Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, a nonpartisan legislative scorekeeper, projected that about 11 million people would lose health-care coverage due to provisions in the bill passed by the House of Representatives if it’s enacted in its current form. The CBO estimated that an additional 4 million or so would lose insurance due to expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, which the bill doesn’t extend. Another 900,000 would lose coverage due to ACA rule changes the Trump administration proposed this spring.
Of the total estimated 16 million who could lose health coverage, that includes 7.8 million individuals on Medicaid and 8.2 million covered through the Affordable Care Act, according to Third Way.
Overall, medical debt would increase by $50 billion as a result of the budget bill changes — a 15% rise over today’s $340 billion in unpaid debts, according to Third Way.
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An estimated 2.2 million households would have medical debt because of Medicaid coverage losses, while 3.2 million more people would rack up balances due to Affordable Care Act reforms that may prompt coverage losses or higher premiums, according to Third Way.
Without coverage, families may see their medical debts increase by as much as $22,800, according to Third Way’s report. About 87% of households that previously had no medical debt would accumulate an average of $22,800 in balances. Meanwhile, 13% of households may accumulate an additional average of $8,790 in medical debt on top of $13,490 in existing balances.
“That’s going to put people’s dreams back, if they’re hoping to go to college or hoping to have a solid retirement or hoping to buy another house,” said David Kendall, senior fellow for health and fiscal policy at Third Way. “Medical debt stands in the way of the American dream, and we shouldn’t make it worse.”
waste, fraud and abuse” in government programs including Medicaid. The Trump administration has said the “big beautiful” bill is a potential “economic windfall for working and middle-class Americans” through tax cuts, higher wages and higher take-home pay.
In a Monday letter that cites the Third Way report, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, and Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chuck Schumer of New York and Ron Wyden of Oregon, urged Republican leaders to reconsider the proposed health-care cuts.
