On July 4, President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a massive spending and tax bill that is part of his second-term agenda. The sweeping piece of legislation will reshape how states, including North Carolina, deliver public aid.
Ahead of the final congressional vote, Gov. Josh Stein warned, “This legislation is being rushed through at a time when many North Carolinians who are worried about feeding their families, being able to continue seeing their doctor, or keeping their jobs.”
In a press release from the governor’s office, Stein made clear the potential impacts:
- Approximately 520,000 North Carolinians may lose their health care due to changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
- The number of North Carolinians without insurance could increase without state or federal level action to protect the more than 670,000 people who have enrolled in Medicaid expansion.
- Revisions to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, could leave 1.4 million North Carolinians without food assistance, including 600,000 who are children.
- The well-being of both farmers and rural grocers, who depend on SNAP, would be jeopardized.
We look at the separate but connected impacts of the bill on food assistance and health care access now that the bill has passed. For Medicaid, new eligibility restrictions and administrative requirements could affect thousands. For SNAP, work-reporting rules and imposed time limits could impact access to food aid for individuals and low-income families.
GUESTS:
Heba Atwa, director of legislative advocacy & campaigns at the N.C. Budget & Tax Center
Melanie Bush, assistant secretary for N.C. Medicaid at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services
Michael Leighs, deputy secretary for Opportunity and Well-Being at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services
