One Big Ugly Bill

 

And now, I'm focused on working to reverse some of the worst policies passed, fighting to ensure Vermonters have access to healthcare, food assistance, and other vital programs.  

I want to make sure everyone in our state has good information about this bill, especially those who are most impacted. 

Are you on Green Mountain Care (Medicaid) or 3SquaresVT (SNAP)? 

First of all, I know how scary it can be to hear about cuts when you are already struggling to get by. That’s why I fought so hard to stop this bill.  

It’s important to understand that many of the cuts in this bill don’t go into effect right away and we’re still learning more about what exactly the impact on individual Vermonters will be. For the time being, pay attention to any mail or communications you receive about your benefits from trusted partners. You can find out more at VermontHealthConnect.gov and https://dcf.vermont.gov/benefits/3SquaresVT. 

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office if you are ever in need of assistance. 

Becca Balint 

Below you’ll find more information on some of what passed as a part of the Republican’s spending bill:  

• THE LARGEST CUT TO HEALTH CARE IN AMERICAN HISTORY:
  • An estimated 17 million Americans will lose health care coverage because this bill cuts funding by $1 trillion, with roughly $900 billion cut from Medicaid.
    • Medicaid is a government health insurance program that covers 72 million people nationwide—that’s 1 in 5 Americans (as of December 2024). People generally qualify based on their income.
    • 168,000 Vermonters are covered by Medicaid—that’s 26% of our population. 
  •  The loss of this funding will threaten rural hospitals. With so much money pulled out of the health care system, smaller hospitals in rural areas will face extremely difficult choices.
    • Vermont hospitals could lose up to $80 million/year in reimbursements for health care services.
  • These cuts will raise costs for every American. People who get their coverage through Medicare or commercial insurance will be left holding the bill the federal government refuses to pay.
  • Vermonters and Americans will feel the impacts in higher premiums, reduced coverage, and reduced access to hospitals and providers.
  • As of October 2025, many refugees, people who have been granted asylum, victims of human trafficking, and some people who hold special visas or protected immigration status will no longer be eligible to receive Medicaid. Starting in 2026 or 2027, those same groups of people will lose Medicare coverage.

• MEDICAID IN VERMONT:
  •  Vermont receives $1.3 billion dollars in federal Medicaid funding.
  • 168,000 Vermonters – 26% of the state’s population -- get their health insurance through Green Mountain Care, the VT Medicaid program.
  • 75% of all adults who are covered by Medicaid in Vermont are working.
  • In Vermont, Medicaid covers:
    • 37% of all births,
    • 41% of all children,
    • 21% of adults ages 19-64,
    • 53% of working-age adults with disabilities,
    • 17% of Medicare beneficiaries, and
    • 62% of nursing home residents.
      

• POTENTIAL LOSSES TO VERMONT:
  • Up to 45,000 Vermonters are at risk of losing their health insurance or having their premiums increase dramatically, whether they are covered by Green Mountain Care (VT Medicaid) or Vermont Health Connect (Vermont’s ACA health insurance marketplace).
  • It is estimated that this bill could cause Vermont’s uninsured rate (one of the lowest in the nation) to almost double from 3.3% to 6%. 
  • Most impacts to health insurance programs will not go into effect until after the November 2026 elections, however noncitizen provisions go into effect in October 2025 and reduction in premium subsidies will impact 2026 plans.
    

•  ADDITIONAL HEALTHCARE IMPACTS:
  • The bill limits certain funds in Medicaid expansion states (like Vermont) which will put even more pressure on an already fragile health care system. This will likely cause hundreds of hospitals and nursing homes across the country to close, fire staff and cut services.
  • The bill adds a highly inadequate $50 billion Rural Hospital Fund to provide financial relief to rural hospitals and other eligible rural healthcare providers.
    • Whatever share Vermont might get from this fund will not be nearly enough to make up for the cuts.
    • Funding under the program would be dispersed to eligible states by CMS. States must apply for funding by December 31, 2025, following CMS guidance.
    • $10 billion will be disbursed each year for 5 years.
  • The bill attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, limiting access to health care of all kinds, including essential reproductive health care.
    • As of July 7, 2025, this provision was put on hold by a court.
    •  64% of Planned Parenthood health centers are located in rural areas, medically underserved areas, or areas with health professional shortages.
    • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s assessment estimates defunding Planned Parenthood will cost taxpayers $52 million over the next ten years.
    • A recent study by the Guttmacher Institute revealed that no other provider can step in to fill the gap for patients who will lose care if Planned Parenthood health centers are forced to close.
      • The report states that federally qualified health centers and other publicly supported clinics in Vermont and New Hampshire would have to increase their caseloads by 100% to provide care to the patients currently served by Planned Parenthood. This is not possible.

• DRAMATIC CUTS TO FOOD ASSISTANCE:
  • Cuts funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, by 20%.
  • This jeopardizes SNAP for 40 million people, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans.
  • Over 65,000 Vermonters participate in 3SquaresVT, Vermont’s SNAP program.
  • Estimates are that upwards of 14,000 Vermonters could lose some or all of their benefits.
  • Immigrants granted official humanitarian status–refugees, asylees, etc–will lose eligibility.
    

• TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH:
  • The $1.3 trillion of cuts to health care and nutrition will help provide tax breaks for people making over $500,000.
  • In 2027, the average tax cut for the top 0.1% is $309,000 while the average benefit for people making under $50,000 is $247. 
  •  Creates a permanent, unlimited tax credit for individuals and corporations who contribute towards private school voucher programs.
  • Increases the maximum Child Tax Credit (CTC), leaving behind 17 million children who don’t receive the full value of the credit.
  • Eliminates the $200 transfer and manufacturing taxes on silencers, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns, which have been in place since 1934.  This provision will cost approximately $1.7 billion in tax revenue and ease access to dangerous weapons and devices that can make shootings more deadly and hamper law enforcement’s ability to save lives.
    

• NATIONAL DEBT
  • $4 trillion ($4,000,000,000,000) will be added to the national debt, including $700 billion in interest.
    •  The debt may seem abstract, but this huge debt will increase interest payments so much that it will be harder for us to pay for the services Americans want: things like social security, health care, public safety, and national parks, among many others. 
      

• CUTS TO PUBLIC EDUCATION AND STUDENT LOANS: 
  •  The bill will make higher education more expensive and less accessible, including by pushing students onto the predatory private loan market.
  • This bill eliminates the SAVE income driven repayment plan and replaces it with one repayment program that may increase student loan payments for low-income borrowers and extends repayment times anywhere from 5-10 years.
  • Starting July 1, 2026, the new law eliminates deferment provisions for borrowers facing economic hardship. For example, someone who falls behind on the bills because of job loss would no longer qualify to defer student loan payment.
  • The bill imposes significant new limits on student loan borrowing. Click here for more information on student borrowing limits.
    

• CUTS TO CLEAN ENERGY:
  •  Rolls back clean energy tax credits for wind and solar, which were expected to provide more than 50% of the new energy needed to power the aging grid and prevent blackouts.
  • The bill will require wind and solar projects to either start construction within a year of passage or enter service by 2027 to get tax credits.
    • This comes at a time when electricity demand is growing at a rapid rate and climate change threatens our already strained grid system.
    • Nationally, the bill will raise household energy bills by at least $110 per year beginning next year and more than $200 before 2035.
      • In Vermont, the bill would increase average annual electricity costs by $70 per household as early as next year. 
    •  Ends tax credits for residential clean energy upgrades, such as solar installations and energy-efficient systems.
      • Vermont households adopted efficiency measures at twice the pace of the typical American household over the course of the first full year since the Act’s passage (2023).
      • Over 10,000 Vermonters had accessed these programs, 3.5% of all households, bringing in nearly $24,000,000 in federal funding.
    • Cuts the Inflation Reduction Act’s initiatives such as air pollution monitoring, cleaning up ports, home energy efficiency upgrades and emissions free school bus programs.
      • Without these programs, in the next five years, harmful emissions will increase by 160 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equal to cutting down more than 2.6 billion new trees and creating a new threat to public health.
        

• IMMIGRATION:
  •  The bill spends more than $150 billion in funding for Trump’s cruel immigration enforcement agenda which breaks down our legal immigration system, deports people without due process and has turned its back on asylum seekers and refugees fleeing from warzones and the harshest countries.
  • Spends an unprecedented $45 billion to build immigration detention centers for families and adults, over 13 times ICE’s current detention budget.
  • Dedicates $27 billion for immigration enforcement and removal operations, which would provide a blank check for this administration which has been snatching women, children with cancer, families, and students off the street instead on focusing immigration enforcement on violent convicted criminals.
  • A $10 billion slush fund for Secretary Kristi Noem for “reimbursement of costs incurred in undertaking activities in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to safeguard the borders of the United States.”  There is no explanation for what or who this money would be spent on reimbursing. 

We will continue to fight this cruel bill and will be in touch with updates as they become available. Don't lose heart.