by | May 22, 2025 | EDITORIAL, POLITICS
While Richmond slept, House Republicans passed what Donald Trump is proudly calling “the big beautiful bill”—a sweeping package that slashes health care access for millions of Americans while delivering generous tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. For Richmonders who rely on Medicaid, SNAP, Planned Parenthood, or the ACA marketplace, this bill isn’t just bad—it’s brutal.
At the center of the bill: permanent tax cuts for the rich, new deductions for things like tips and overtime pay, and expanded loopholes for high earners. But behind that shiny surface is a gutting of the social safety net that supports millions—including thousands right here in Central Virginia.
The bill proposes nearly $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid over 10 years, along with new work requirements for adults aged 19 to 65. That’s roughly 80 hours of documented work, education, or community service a month—or you lose coverage. In Virginia, those requirements could hit up to 480,000 people, with as many as 206,000 potentially losing health coverage by the end of the decade.
Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) has raised concerns that cutting Medicaid will shift costs elsewhere in the system. “When you kick people off of their health insurance, that raises the cost for everybody else,” she said in a recent press briefing. In a follow-up statement, she noted that, “As more Virginians delay care until they end up in emergency rooms, costs will rise for everyone.”
The bill also fails to renew enhanced ACA premium subsidies, meaning many families who gained affordable insurance in recent years may soon be priced out again. For Richmond residents who rely on these programs for basic care, the stakes are high.
In a chilling last-minute amendment, House Republicans rewrote the bill to ban all federal Medicaid and ACA coverage for gender-affirming care—regardless of age. That means transgender individuals, whether 17 or 70, would be legally blocked from accessing transition-related services through public insurance programs.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access—but in targeting people simply for who they are,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
These changes would have a profound effect on Richmond’s transgender community, which already faces limited access to gender-affirming care and high levels of health-related discrimination.
The bill also strips all federal funding from Planned Parenthood, preventing patients from using Medicaid at its health centers. That’s a direct threat to the 25,000 Virginians who relied on those clinics last year for birth control, STI treatment, cancer screenings, and basic preventive care.
“This isn’t about Planned Parenthood,” said Jamie Lockhart, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia. “It’s about whether tens of thousands of Virginians can keep getting the care they count on.”
In 2023 alone, Planned Parenthood centers in Virginia:
For many, these clinics are their only doctor’s office.
The bill also expands work requirements for SNAP (food stamps), applying them to adults up to age 64 and many parents. In a city like Richmond, where food insecurity remains a persistent issue, those changes could leave thousands without critical support.
LGBTQ+ adults, caregivers, people with disabilities, and those without stable housing are especially vulnerable under the new rules. Nationally, 27% of LGBTQ+ adults report struggling to afford food. Those numbers are only expected to climb if the bill becomes law.
So who’s this bill really for?
It makes the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, increases the child tax credit (temporarily), and raises the cap on state and local tax deductions to $40,000 for households earning under $500,000. Those are policies aimed squarely at higher-income earners—folks unlikely to be using Medicaid or SNAP anytime soon.
Even the tip and overtime exemptions, while easy to market, don’t come close to offsetting the loss of basic health coverage, food assistance, and reproductive care for most working families.
“This is a scam that robs everyday Americans of their health care and financial stability,” said Leslie Dach of Protect Our Care. “When children with disabilities are stripped of the support they need, the American people will know Republicans chose billionaires over them.”
This bill isn’t abstract policy for Richmond. It’s direct harm.
If it passes the Senate, we’re looking at:
Richmond has been through a lot. We’ve rebuilt and reimagined what access can look like. But this bill threatens to undo years of progress in one fell swoop. So when Trump calls this “beautiful,” remember—he’s not talking about you. He’s talking about the folks cashing in while the rest of us scramble for care.
Photo by Nathan Bingle
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