Health industry blasts Senate passage of $1T in healthcare cuts

Modern Healthcare – Tuesday, July 1, 2025
By Caroline Hudson

The Senate brought the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 and its more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs one critical step closer to President Donald Trump’s desk Tuesday.

Healthcare organizations have sharply criticized the legislation since Trump and the Republican majority in Congress began working on the measure in January. Following the Senate action, trade associations slammed the bill, saying it would devastate providers and patients.

Here’s what healthcare groups had to say about the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:
Providers

American Hospital Association

“This legislation will cause 11.8 million Americans to be displaced from their healthcare coverage as they move from insured to uninsured status. It also will drive up uncompensated care for hospitals and health systems, which will affect their ability to serve all patients. It will force hospitals to make service line reductions and staff reductions, resulting in longer waiting times in emergency departments and for other essential services, and could ultimately lead to facility closures, especially in rural and underserved areas.”

– Rick Pollack, president and CEO

Federation of American Hospitals

“The spotlight is now on the House — they can assert their will and better this bad bill, or they can cave to the Senate and threaten hardworking Americans’ health coverage and access in the process. Now is the time for House members to stand up for their constituents, abandon harmful cuts to care and local hospitals, and strengthen the original House bill.”

– Chip Kahn, president and CEO

Catholic Health Association of the U.S.

“It is shameful that Congress has once again prioritized the interests of the wealthy over the needs of millions of vulnerable Americans. Let’s be clear: no amount of tinkering changes the underlying, fundamental flaws of H.R. 1 and its devastating impact. This bill inflicts deep harm on essential community health and social safety-net programs, threatening the survival of rural hospitals and long-term care facilities. It places additional financial strain on already overburdened healthcare providers and state budgets.”

– Sr. Mary Haddad, president and CEO

Children’s Hospital Association

“Just about half of children in the U.S. rely on Medicaid and [the Children’s Health Insurance Program], but the cuts in the bill would impact every American child regardless of their insurance status. Provisions like state directed payments and provider taxes — both of which are targeted for cuts in the Senate bill — make it possible for children’s hospitals to provide services to every child that walks through their doors. Without the funding from these programs, we will likely see the services millions of children use reduced or eliminated entirely.”

– Matthew Cook, president and CEO

Association of American Medical Colleges

“We again urge the House to reject these harmful proposals that cut Medicaid funding, reduce access to healthcare and limit federal student financial aid for aspiring doctors.”

– Dr. David Skorton, president and CEO, and Danielle Turnipseed, chief public policy officer

American Medical Association

“The cuts to federal healthcare programs, including Medicaid and CHIP, will shift costs to the states and specifically to physicians and hospitals to provide uncompensated care at a time when rural hospitals and physician practices are struggling to keep their doors open. While we appreciate that the bill provides a temporary lift for Medicare payments in 2026, it falls short of the House-passed language tying Medicare updates to the Medicare Economic Index and far short of what is needed to preserve access to care for America’s seniors.”

– Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, president

American Academy of Family Physicians

“The simple truth is you cannot remove over $1 trillion and not have a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of millions of people. The Senate version of the reconciliation bill did take a step toward improving access to primary care through a one-year increase to Medicare physician payment for 2026 and by allowing individuals with [health savings accounts] to use those funds to pay for direct primary care arrangements — provisions that we support and believe should be implemented into law.”

American College of Emergency Physicians

“Emergency care teams are already strained to their limits under factors outside of their control. The additional strain that this bill will impose by substantially increasing the number of uninsured or underinsured individuals will result in millions of patients with no other option to access care than the emergency department, further crowding already overburdened EDs, delaying care and driving up costs for everyone.”

America’s Physician Groups

“The fact that all these cuts in healthcare and social programs are being used to finance tax cuts that will primarily benefit the highest income taxpayers is inexcusable. The resulting income transfer from poor to rich Americans will only further widen disparities in health that are related to the all-important impact of incomes on health.”

– Susan Dentzer, president and CEO

American Psychiatric Association

“This is a huge blow for access to healthcare in America. In very real terms, this legislation will result in irreparable gaps in access to care for our country’s most vulnerable, many of whom have mental health and substance-use disorders, and they will suffer as a result.”

– Dr. Theresa Miskimen Rivera, president

American Nurses Association

“Medicaid is not just a budget line item — it is the backbone of care for millions of Americans, including seniors in nursing homes, children with complex medical needs, and working families in rural and underserved areas. It is also a critical pillar of the nursing workforce. Cuts to Medicaid would result in hospital and clinic closures, especially in rural areas, and would force nurses to shoulder even heavier workloads, leading to burnout, attrition and ultimately, worse patient outcomes.”

– Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president

National Association of Community Health Centers

“Changes of this magnitude will have an immediate and devastating impact on community health center patients and the financial stability of CHCs. NACHC estimates the Senate version of the legislation will lead to approximately $7 billion per year in higher costs from uncompensated care for new and existing CHC patients and increased operational costs to ensure compliance with new policies.”

Infectious Diseases Society of America

“Medicaid is a critical lifeline for millions of Americans, including people with HIV, children with special healthcare needs and older adults who require significant and specialized care. Medicaid often supplements private insurance or Medicare for our most vulnerable patients, many of whom have complex conditions and extremely fragile immune systems that leave them at considerable risk for all infectious diseases and associated complications.”

– Dr. Tina Tan, president
Health insurance industry

AHIP

“The combined impact of the policies in the bill will destabilize state Medicaid programs and undermine countless local healthcare systems. Due to new red tape and barriers to enrollment and re-enrollment, people losing eligibility for Medicaid will find an individual market with less choice and higher premiums. The potential expiration of the current healthcare tax credits later this year would compound the disruption. Taken together, these policies could result in the biggest rollback in healthcare coverage in the country’s history.”

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

“We urge leaders in the House to put the nation on a better path. There are meaningful savings that Congress can deliver for patients, business and hardworking taxpayers, and we have the roadmap. By tackling out-of-control prescription drug prices and curbing excessive hospital markups, lawmakers could reduce healthcare costs by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.”

– David Merritt, senior vice president of external affairs

Alliance of Community Health Plans

“This short-sighted approach exacerbates the impending coverage loss resulting from expiring enhanced tax credits, undermines the stability of the healthcare system and jeopardizes the health of communities across the country. We implore members to reconsider it when it returns to the House.”

Association for Community Affiliated Plans

“While framed as an effort to reduce waste and fraud, these changes will limit access to essential care for millions of Americans. Work requirements, often promoted as a solution, have been proven repeatedly to be ineffective at promoting employment and administratively burdensome. Most Medicaid enrollees who can work already do.”

– Margaret Murray, CEO
Labor unions

Service Employees International Union

“The budget resolution passed by Senate Republicans today is not policy — it is an assault on working people. This attack will take healthcare from millions, steal food from children by gutting [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program], slash research and higher education, and pour money into [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to terrorize families and tear apart our communities. This isn’t fiscal responsibility — it’s cruelty dressed up as governance. Families suffer, while billionaires walk away with more tax breaks.”

– Leslie Frane, executive vice president

AFL-CIO

“The value of any policy like a temporary tax break on tips or overtime will be more than wiped out by higher healthcare and energy costs — or worse, the loss of jobs altogether. There are 17 million Americans who will lose their healthcare, hospitals and nursing homes will close, millions will lose their jobs, and everyone will be forced to pay higher daily costs — all while driving resources to a nasty mass deportation effort that will disrupt the country’s workforce across industries and lead to more layoffs for everyone.”

– Liz Shuler, president

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