The So-Called "One Big Beautiful Bill": Federal Cuts to Our Livelihoods

Materials

Fact Sheets

• With Frequently Asked Questions (color)
• With Frequently Asked Questions (black and white)
• With info on impact of Medicaid cuts (color)

In July 2025, President Trump and Congressional leadership passed a sweeping budget bill known as “One Big Beautiful Bill” (or OBBB), gutting healthcare, education, retirement, food assistance, and more—all while handing massive tax breaks to the wealthy.

Some changes take effect immediately, while others—like Medicaid cuts—will roll out over the next several years, hitting hardest by 2034. The damage:

• 17 million people will lose healthcare coverage by 2034
• 2 million families at risk of losing food assistance
• 70% of tax cuts will go to the top 20%
• $4 trillion added to the national debt
• Increased prescription costs by weakening the power of Medicare to negotiate for better prices
• 24,800 jobs lost due to cuts to Medicaid, clean energy, and more

How do Medicaid Cuts impact all of us?

Even if you don’t use Medicaid, you will feel the pain. More info on Medicaid is listed below, but here's the toplines on how this impacts us:

• Safety-net hospitals will close or cut services
• Private insurance costs will rise
• Public health services like mental health and addiction care are at risk
• Healthcare jobs—including thousands of CWA members—are threatened

Frequently Asked Questions

Doesn’t the bill eliminate taxes on our overtime?

Only a small portion - and it expires after 2028. Meanwhile, tax breaks for the rich are permanent.

Did they lift the cap on the State-and-Local Tax (SALT) Deduction?

Only temporarily. The cap returns in 5 years.

Are Social Security benefits now tax-free?

No. There’s a small temporary deduction for seniors over 65, but only for some and it ends in 2028.

What about no taxes on tips?

Most tipped workers won’t see a single dime - because it’s a deduction not a refundable credit.

Bottom Line

This bill is a massive giveaway to the rich, paid for by cuts to the programs we rely on. We need to fight back now.

What is Medicaid?

Medicaid is a joint federal+state program to finance medical care for adults and children with limited income and resources, including children with special needs.

It provides healthcare coverage for millions of families, and accounts for roughly one-third of the expenditures of the state’s healthcare sector, which employs about 1.2 million people.

The federal government pays nearly 70% of Medicaid expenses. It allows for states and localities to invest in vital public health infrastructure, including mental health services, addiction treatment, and crisis response systems, which benefit everyone.

Medicaid funding makes up a significant portion of hospital funding for safety-net hospitals.

By providing coverage, Medicaid decreases the number of uninsured patients, which takes pressure off hospitals and keeps hidden costs from getting passed on to the rest of us through higher insurance premiums.

The impact of Medicaid cuts on all Americans

Hospitals in rural and/or low-income areas will feel feel the impact of Medicaid cuts first, but the ripple effect will hit all of us.

These hospitals in particular rely heavily on Medicaid; funding cuts will lead rollback of services and high risk of entire department closures, or even complete hospital closures.

This impacts access to care for entire communities—even if you have private health insurance, you can’t go to the hospital if there’s no hospital to go to.

We’re also bracing for higher costs for private insurance as hospitals try to offset losses from Medicaid and uninsured patients by raising prices for the rest of us. This can lead to higher insurance premiums and health care costs across the board.

The impact of Medicaid cuts on our members

District 1 represents roughly 20,000 healthcare workers across several states. For years, our members have been sounding the alarm on the dire understaffing at our facilities. Cuts to Medicaid will deepen this crisis.

When hospitals and other healthcare facilities see a funding cuts, one of the first cuts they make is to staffing. Already, many CWA healthcare workers are burdened with more patients than they can adequately care for, driving burnout and making it impossible even to take meal or bathroom breaks at times.

Medicaid cuts threaten the jobs of our members, and will make the patient loads on those who remain even heavier.