skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, July 14, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Two dead at Lexington, KY church after suspect shot a state trooper - suspect killed; SD pleads with Trump administration to release education funds; Rural CO electric co-op goes independent; New CA documentary examines harms of mining critical minerals; ID projects receive $76,000 in grants to make communities age-friendly.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

FEMA's Texas flood response gets more criticism for unanswered calls. Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego-Garcia want guidance about a potential second deportation. And new polls show not as many Americans are worried about the state of democracy.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural Americans brace for disproportionate impact of federal funding cuts to mental health, substance use programs, and new federal policies have farmers from Ohio to Minnesota struggling to grow healthier foods and create sustainable food production programs.

AR residents could lose Medicaid under budget reconciliation bill

play audio
Play

Friday, June 13, 2025   

As Congress considers cuts to safety-net programs for what Republicans are calling the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 16 million Americans - including 95,000 Arkansans - would lose Medicaid health insurance.

If the bill passes "as is," said Josh Bivens, chief economist for the Economic Policy Institute, health providers would see a steep increase in what's known as "uncompensated care" - when people without coverage get sick and can't afford to pay their medical bill.

"And it means hospitals and doctors no longer receive that income stream from Medicaid payments," he said. "And lots of them are going to be forced out of business, and there's going to be closures of hospitals, especially in rural counties."

Republicans have cast doubt on the CBO's projections, and claimed cutting $715 billion from Medicaid by eliminating fraud and adding work requirements for adults would not reduce coverage. The GOP bill aims to fund Trump administration priorities, including more immigration raids and border wall construction, and extending tax cuts passed in 2017.

Bivens said if the bill becomes law, it would result in what he described as the direct transfer of income from vulnerable families to the richest Americans. He noted the average cuts to Medicaid, which would kick in after the 2026 midterm elections, would be more than $70 billion a year.

"And then if you look at the tax cuts that will be received by just people making over $1 million per year, those are $70 billion as well," he said. "We're going to take $70 billion away from poor families on Medicaid, and we're going to give it to families who are making more than $1 million per year."

Six Nobel Prize-winning economists wrote a letter warning that the bill's safety net cuts could add $5 trillion to the national debt. While headlines about the latest Trump-Musk feud may catch more people's attention, Bivens said it's this bill that will have the biggest impacts on Arkansans.

"And so," he said, "I think the fact that six Nobel Prize winners said, 'This is important enough for me to try to draw attention to the implications of this bill,' should make people realize the stakes are really large."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Research shows when federal funding for Medicaid decreases, states tend to cut optional benefits, such as home- and community-based services, first. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A Wisconsin nonprofit serving people with disabilities is waiting to hear if federal changes to Medicaid will affect their clients and caregivers…


play sound

By Ilana Newman for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collabora…

Social Issues

play sound

Uncertainty about the current job market is influencing high school graduates' choices for a career. Parents are generally the go-to for guidance…


Lancaster secured a record $12.7 million federal grant in 2023 to eliminate serious traffic injuries and deaths by 2030, one of just 37 U.S. cities awarded funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (Christian Hinkle/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania is voicing concerns about the state budget delay, warning it could affect the city's more than 58,000 residents…

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 3.5 million Texans utilize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to purchase food. The budget reconciliation bill recently signed …

Washington state has the world's largest public port system. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Environmental advocates are urging Washington state lawmakers to require cargo ships to plug in while in port. The Port of Seattle will require all …

Environment

play sound

A new documentary looked at ways to reduce the human and environmental harms stemming from the mining of "critical minerals." Without minerals like c…

Environment

play sound

Wisconsin's agriculture industry could see both wins and losses under the new federal budget. Climate change isn't a priority for the Trump …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021