On July 4th of this year, the One Big Beautiful Bill passed. Among other things, this bill targets Medicaid for Americans. According to a summary of the bill on Undue Medical Debt, the bill itself would cut Medicaid by one trillion dollars, cutting coverage for 15 million Americans.
Specifically, the changes would target those on Medicaid who don’t meet specific working requirements. However, experts say that these working requirements affect either those unaware or unwilling to comply with these new terms. Even those who meet those terms might not be able to access care, as it is estimated that due to the cuts to local hospitals, four in 10 could shut down.
Currently, 603,000 Iowans use Medicaid. This covers 19% of people in Iowa’s congressional districts. However, even those still enrolled with Medicaid after these cuts might not have access to care. 42% of Medicaid patients in Iowa live in rural areas, which will be the hardest hit by the changes to hospital funding. Even if those Medicaid patients retain their insurance, they may still lose access to nearby medical care. The root of these risks comes from the idea that medical security is not a right.
In total, this bill not only takes away the financial stability from those seeking medical care, but it might even limit their access if they can get it. This is a further attack in the form of a policy that only benefits those who make money off suffering and limits aid for people who need it. I remember when the bill passed, immediately feeling a deep sadness and fear for the number of people this bill will kill because someone else needed money.
When this bill is referred to as costly, it’s not only because of the actual cost it will bring on Americans, but also the human lives this country so frequently ignores. The Iowans who may lose healthcare coverage are deemed as an acceptable sacrifice by those who sit in Washington. Regardless of how you view the idea of healthcare, it should be upsetting that your mortality is worth less to those in power than money.
Over the summer, I had a small medical scare. I noticed a sharp pain in my side that worsened throughout the evening. Fearing appendicitis — which it luckily wasn’t — my parents rushed me to the emergency room. I was fortunate to have an emergency room within driving distance, a privilege that fewer people will have access to after this bill. In addition, the medical costs sat around a thousand dollars. This was a fee I could not pay by myself, but I was again fortunate to have my parents, who could. This is a privilege not everyone has. It makes me angry because had it been appendicitis and I didn’t have those privileges, like many people don’t, the consequences could have been fatal.
The issue is that America refuses to see universal healthcare as what it is, which is a right. The United States is the only developed country that does not have universal healthcare as a basic right. The right to live healthy and free lives has always been a debate in this country, and politicians consistently choose to act as if the lives of citizens and their health have less priority than the money the richest among us gain from health insurance. In no world should someone have to pay to keep themselves happy and healthy. We live in a world where corporations constantly fill our water with lead, our air with toxins and our food with microplastics, and have the gall to put their hands in our pockets when we go to get treated.
I grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, home of the Mayo Clinic. I have vivid memories of going with my grandma to volunteer at places like Saint Mary’s and the Ronald McDonald House to help people who were far from home and getting aid that only the clinic could provide.
I remember as a child seeing the joy and hope they held, knowing the clinic could help them keep their lives going. That’s what healthcare in this country should provide. A hope for its citizens that they can live with their illnesses and woes and trust in the state to keep them safe. The government should do for the people what the people cannot do for themselves. This bill and its dirty predecessors harm people like that and take money from their wallets so someone else makes a quick buck off their suffering. This bill will cost us human lives while it gains the rich capital.
