Devastating Medicaid Cuts Threaten Care for Millions in the Sunshine State

HIGHLIGHTS:

• 2M Floridians at Risk: Massive healthcare cuts could double Florida’s uninsured population.
• Frozen Funding: Key financing tool capped, blocking the state from filling federal gaps.
• Barriers to Care: Red tape and new fees will hit people with disabilities hardest.
• $295B SNAP Cuts: Food aid slashed; states face higher costs and tighter rules.
• Immigrant Coverage Stripped: Most lawfully present immigrants lose access to Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA coverage.

FLORIDA  — July 3, 2025 — Leaders from Florida Health Justice Project, Florida Policy Institute, Florida Voices for Health, SEIU Florida, and UnidosUS condemn Congress’s rushed passage of the so‑called “Big, Beautiful Bill”—a dangerous betrayal of millions of Florida workers and families, now rightly dubbed the “Big UGLY Bill.” 

While cynically sold as tax relief and border security, this bill will only gut Medicaid and devastate Florida’s most vulnerable communities by shifting costs onto working families, overwhelming hospitals, and crippling local economies that rely on a healthy, stable workforce. The Congressional Budget Office warns that as many as 17 million Americans could be uninsured by 2034, with Floridians among those hit hardest.

“This is not reform; it’s a repeal of essential care,” said Martha Baker, RN, President of SEIU Florida and SEIU Local 1991, representing nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals at Jackson Health System in Miami, FL. “Disabled Floridians will lose life‑saving home care, our hospitals will bleed, and families will drown in paperwork.”

“Medicaid protects Floridians, young and old, especially our most at‑risk community members,” added Roxey Nelson, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU, the state’s largest union of healthcare workers. “This bill pulls the rug out from under them, depriving care, dignity, and stability. As a union of caregivers, we’re especially appalled that these dangerous cuts are to pay for more massive tax giveaways to big business and the ultra-wealthy.”

What's at Stake for Florida:

• Nearly $1 trillion nationwide in healthcare cuts over the next decade—slashing at least 2 million Floridians off of Medicaid and Health Insurance Marketplace insurance and doubling the state’s uninsured population.
• A key funding mechanism used by Florida and 48 other states is frozen at current levels, preventing the state from using this funding method to make up for federal shortfalls caused by the bill. 
• More frequent and burdensome eligibility checks and fees disproportionately harm disabled individuals, escalating medical debt and administrative red tape. 
• SNAP Cuts of $295B: Massive rollback over 10 years; states will shoulder more admin costs, leading to stricter eligibility enforcement.  Due to new rules, some states may drop SNAP altogether.
• The bill attacks immigrant health coverage, limiting participation in Medicaid and also Medicare and ACA tax credits to green card holders, Cubans, Haitians, and residents of the Marshall Island/Micronesia, and barring coverage for all other lawfully present immigrants, such as individuals with Temporary Protected status, refugees, asylees, survivors of domestic violence and trafficking, and Dreamers. 

“Even though millions of Floridians are already struggling to make ends meet, congressional leaders and the Trump administration have pushed through a plan that guts health care funding-- among other critical programs and services--while providing tax cuts skewed to the wealthiest households. The massive cuts that Congress has included in the reconciliation bill is an act of cruel disregard for the lives of millions of Americans. Floridians will lose much-needed health care coverage, and our state will be left footing the bill for the loss in federal funding. Additionally, our state is already projecting a nearly $7 billion deficit by fiscal year 2028. Now is the worst time for our state to be left footing a massive bill to preserve current SNAP and Medicaid benefit levels." 

Sadaf Knight, CEO of Florida Policy Institute 

“Floridians expect their elected leaders to focus on improving everyday life and lifting the American standard of living. When you talk to people across the state, you hear what really matters: earning a solid wage so their kids don’t go to bed hungry, affording health care without having to choose between rent and insulin, and ensuring aging parents get routine checkups to watch their grandchildren graduate. In short, they want relief from the economic burdens that are robbing them of both dignity and the chance at a full life. Today’s federal budget bill betrays that vision. It makes clear that Florida Republicans have chosen the mere possibility of salvaging their political careers over the well-being of the Floridians they were elected to serve." 

Jared Nordlund, Florida State Director, UnidosUS

“Because of the countless advocates and community members who called and emailed, members of Congress voted today with a full sense of what might happen next. If they’re confident their vote won’t cut programs, the real test of their intent will be how they respond in a year or two when we're back here shining a light on these problems.”

Scott Darius, Executive Director, Florida Voices for Health

“It may take some time, but Floridians will come to see and feel first-hand the effects of the attack on their healthcare by some of their own elected officials. The effects will be wide and deep. Floridians will long remember this betrayal by those entrusted to represent them.”  

Lynn Hearn, Legal Director, Florida Health Justice Project

“We are extremely concerned about the devastating impact these cuts to healthcare and SNAP will have on our most vulnerable. Due to a lack of health insurance and delayed care, we have clients who have lost limbs and eyesight. Instead of addressing the issue, our legislators just voted to make it worse.”

Zelalem Adefris, CEO, Catalyst Miami

Medicaid Enrollee Impact Statements 

Source: Florida Health Justice Program

Jorge Luis, Citrus County

“Medicaid has been a game changer. Thanks to this program, I have medical equipment that allows me to have a better life. The life of a quadriplegic person is not an easy life, but thanks to Medicaid I have received tools that have allowed me to be more productive and to have an easier life. Without Medicaid, I will lose everything. It’s not only the dependency of a wheelchair; it’s also all the medical supplies that are needed, and without Medicaid, I will probably be dead because I don’t have the financial means to get all that it takes for my care. Without that help, I won’t be able to be productive. I’m not asking for help to stay home and do nothing, I’m asking for help because I want to continue to be productive as anyone else in this country.”

Betsy, Duval County

“Polly has a developmental disability. She receives Medicaid as an adult with disabilities, and her medical and other needs are very much supported and served through Medicaid. Medicaid supports her care coordination. It supports the medical and behavioral services that support her every day. It supports the day program that she attends, and the transportation to and from that day program. It also supports the care that we access at home and assists me in being able to sustain full-time employment and continue to take care of her as well. 

“Our sponsored employer healthcare plan Polly won’t be eligible for it because of her unique situation as a dependent adult; she would not qualify under our insurance. For us, Medicaid is an essential part of our lives and is an essential part of supporting Polly. Even if we were wealthy, we wouldn’t have what we need for Polly”.

Dyna, Palm Beach County, FL

“My mom is 66 years old and she has had multiple strokes. Due to the severity of the strokes, she became disabled, and she has been enrolled in a long-term care program through Medicaid. She relies on caregivers for her daily living because the stroke left her with left-side paralysis and also with aphasia. She forgot how to read, write, and speak. I call them the silent voices, people like my mom, who just suffer quietly.

“Medicaid has a really profound impact in my mom’s life, and mine as well. I am able to continue working, and have my mom also living her life. The caregivers have been really important for us because it allows my mom the safety to be alone, she is living through them (the caregivers) because she can not do anything by herself anymore.. If something were to happen, she can not call 911 to get help”.