Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released a new report revealing how Senate Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” will hurt Californians by slashing essential programs that people rely on while providing massive tax cuts to President Donald Trump’s billionaire friends. The report lays out specifics on how this proposal will hurt families, children, seniors, and low-income communities in California by kicking over 2 million people off their health insurance and slashing billions in funding for food assistance through CalFresh, California’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It will also put hospitals across the state at risk of closure.
“The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ will send health care in the United States into critical condition and kick 2 million Californians off their health care. Hospitals will close, there will be increased barriers to coverage, and food assistance will be slashed with catastrophic consequences for millions of Californians. Put simply: Americans who are already suffering will suffer more, all to fund tax cuts for billionaires. That is unacceptable and I will fight this bill tooth and nail,” said Senator Schiff.
The report’s key findings include that under Senate Republicans’ bill:
- More than 1.5 million Californians would lose Medi-Cal coverage. Medi-Cal – California’s Medicaid program – provides health care coverage to 14.9 million Californians, or 38% of the state’s population. This includes half of all children in California and 40% of people with disabilities.
- Nearly 700,000 Californians – accounting for more than one-third of people who get their health insurance through Covered California – would lose their coverage. Covered California is California’s state-based health insurance exchange, established under the Affordable Care Act. Covered California provides health insurance to nearly 2 million Californians who don’t qualify for Medi-Cal and aren’t offered health insurance through their employer.
- Massive cuts to federal funding that health care providers rely on will put hospitals and health centers across the state at risk of closure. Over the next ten years, these caps are estimated to cut between $45-$60 billion in federal funding for California’s private and public hospitals.
- Cuts off enhanced premium tax credits for health care plans through Affordable Care Act Marketplace and state-based exchanges, including Covered California. This will dramatically increase premiums for most Americans enrolled in these plans– with an annual increase of $387 to $2,914 per person beginning in 2026, depending on income.
- Restricts and harms access to reproductive health care. Effectively defunds Planned Parenthood by barring Medi-Cal enrollees from receiving non-abortion health care services – such as access to birth control and cancer screenings – from health care providers at Planned Parenthood locations. In California, over 80% of people who seek care at Planned Parenthood health centers are enrolled in Medi-Cal. This bill would also make it harder for all Americans to obtain private insurance coverage for abortion care.
LGBTQ+:
- Bans Medi-Cal coverage of gender affirming care services. This will cut off access to critical health care services for the 36,000 transgender, gender expansive, and intersex Californians with low incomes who qualify for Medi-Cal.
- The bill codifies in statute that the only two sexes are male and female, attempting to legislate transgender, gender expansive, and intersex people out of existence.
Food assistance cuts:
- The Republican bill abandons the federal government’s longstanding commitment to ensuring families with low incomes can afford food. Over 5 million Californians, roughly 14% of the state, rely on CalFresh to put food on their tables. More than 55% of participants in CalFresh are families with children and over 36% are families with older adults or people with disabilities.
- Jeopardizes funding for the state’s summer food program, SUN Bucks. SUN Bucks is a critical safety net program which provides modest assistance to families during the summer when school meals are not an option.
Read the full report here.
###