Press Release: 7/7/2025

President Trump and Congress Strip Food and Health Insurance from Millions of Residents

 



For Immediate Release

For more information: Madeline Graf: mgraf@mlri.org  | (857) 241-1745 



President Trump and Congress Strip Food and Health Insurance from Millions of Residents

Massachusetts must marshall its resources to mitigate harm and protect its residents from the unconscionable impacts of the reconciliation bill 



BOSTON, MA (July 4, 2025) – Today, President Trump signed a bill from Republicans in Congress that cuts the largest amount from food assistance and healthcare in history – all to pay for tax cuts for wealthy corporations and billionaires.



 



With this bill, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have eviscerated SNAP food benefits and health insurance programs by forcing states to pay significant costs to run the programs and issue benefits. And, at a time of escalating health care and food costs, they are kicking millions of people off SNAP and health insurance by adding red tape that causes many eligible people to lose coverage for paperwork errors. 



One in six Massachusetts residents receive SNAP benefits to buy groceries and help put food on the table. One in three state residents – including nearly half of all children and people with disabilities – rely on Medicaid (MassHealth) for health coverage, and hundreds of thousands more obtain affordable insurance from the Affordable Care Act (ACA – also known as the Health Connector). Slashing eligibility and access to benefits for low-income Massachusetts residents will increase hunger, worsen health outcomes, and deepen poverty. The bill:




  • Deprives Massachusetts residents of basic food assistance, leaving thousands hungry: MLRI estimates the bill’s vast expansion of the SNAP 3-month time limit and termination of eligibility for legally present immigrants who fled persecution will put about 175,000 current recipients at risk of losing some or all of their SNAP – during a time where 1 in 3 Massachusetts households report food insecurity.  

  • Kicks hundreds of thousands of people off health insurance and undermines our health care system: Over 325,000 people in MA will lose health insurance by 2034 due to the changes in Medicaid and the ACA premium tax credits. The bill’s restrictions on how states pay for their share of Medicaid will lead to an estimated loss of $1 billion in federal Medicaid revenue per year. The bill will lead to avoidable deaths, more uncompensated care, and more hospitals at risk of closure.

  • Attacks our immigrant neighbors: The bill singles out lawfully present immigrants by changing the eligibility rules in place for decades. It takes away SNAP, ACA premium tax credits, and Medicare from many lawfully-residing, tax-paying immigrants, including people granted asylum or humanitarian parole and domestic violence and trafficking victims. In addition to barring many immigrants from SNAP, Masshealth, ConnectorCare and Medicare, the bill places humanitarian immigration relief that provides lawful status out of reach of most immigrants. The bill provides for 28 new non waivable fees including draconian fees on asylum applicants and others seeking humanitarian relief including children in need of protection. The bill provides for the indefinite detention of children. The new fees further place prohibitory fees on appeals in immigration cases placing due process in the hands of only those who can afford it.



President Trump and Congress have taken resources directly from our lowest-income community members and handed taxpayer’s’ dollars to those with the highest income – all while driving up deficits and debt. These reprehensible policy decisions will worsen inequality now and for future generations and make it harder than it already is to survive — let alone thrive — for those who struggle to afford health care or food. 



Hunger and poverty are policy choices. Massachusetts cannot undo the choices made by the President and Congressional Republicans. The duty to protect our most vulnerable neighbors now falls on the Commonwealth.  



MLRI stands ready to work with the Healey Administration and the Legislature to mitigate the most immediate consequences of this bill and to identify strategies to protect Massachusetts residents. 



“This malicious bill inflicts significant generational harm on our neighbors and communities. We must now turn to protecting low-income families and individuals in Massachusetts,” says Georgia Katsoulomitis, MLRI’s Executive Director. “If we do not mitigate this federal damage in the Commonwealth, hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents will go hungry, get sicker, grow poorer, and struggle unnecessarily – and our local communities and economies will suffer the consequences.” 



MLRI is deeply grateful to our entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation for steadfastly opposing cuts to SNAP and Medicaid and for voting against this bill.



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About Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI)

Founded in 1968, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is a nonprofit poverty law and policy program that provides statewide advocacy and leadership in advancing laws, policies, and practices that secure economic, racial, and social justice for low-income people and communities. To learn more, visit MLRI.org.