Medicaid, Snap Cuts could lead to nearly 500,000 lost health jobs: report

Diving brief:

• More than a million jobs – including hundreds of thousands of positions in the health care sector – could be lost if the cuts against Medicaid and food assistance succeed in the congress, according to a report published this week by Commonwealth Fund and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
• Throughout the country, 1.2 million jobs could be lost in 2029 as funding for security and security and the additional nutrition aid program, or SNAP, to cross states. The impact would be comparable to the increase in the country’s unemployment rate by a sixth, said health researchers.
• The health care industry would be particularly affected. Nearly 500,000 jobs would be reduced in the sector, such as roles in hospitals, doctors’ firms, pharmacies and long -term care providers.

Diving insight:

The One Big Beautiful Bill law, which includes a number of health care provisions, including important cups in Medicaid, barely adopted in the House at the end of last month.

In particular, legislation would oblige work requirements for Medicaid, forcing beneficiaries to record work, volunteering or training hours to remain registered with the coverage. Last week, the Senate Republicans published their proposal, which includes higher cups in Medicaid thanks to extended work requirements and more restrictions on state providers.

Federal funding discounts would probably damage state savings, reduction of service providers and then impact other companies in their supply chains – as well as jobs and income from their workers, the report.

Medicaid and SNAP discounts would reduce gross interior products of $ 154 billion in 2029, 18% higher than the savings that the bill would provide to the federal government.

In addition, revenues lost by companies and state residents would reduce state revenues and local dollars that year. Since states are required to balance their budgets, they should increase taxes or reduce expenses elsewhere to compensate for losses, according to researchers.

“Medicaid and Snap are not only security programs – they are economic engines,” Leighton Ku, principal author of the analysis and director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the George Washington University Institute School of Public Health. “The reductions of this magnitude harm millions of families and would destabilize state savings, triggering a devastating number of job losses and budgetary tension.”

The impact of the cuts varies depending on the state. Those who have more with low -income families who depend on programs like Medicaid and Snap would be more difficult by job losses.

For example, the average job loss in the five states with the highest poverty rates – Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Virginia -Western and Kentucky – is 1.3 percentage points, against 0.6 percentage points for states with the lowest poverty, including New Hampshire, UTAH, Minnesota Colorado and Maryland.

The severity of the Medicaid cuts would also depend on the states. Overall, more than 13%of Federal Medicaid funds would be lost nationally in 2029. Arizona would lose more than 21%, while Wyoming would see its funds decrease by almost 6%.