HONOLULU (KHON2) — From seniors to students, parents to patients. Nearly everyone in Hawaiʻi stands to feel the impact of the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The Senate version of the bill cuts more than a trillion dollars from Medicaid. It imposes work requirements for those enrolled in Medicaid and food assistance programs including SNAP.
While there are exemptions for those who are unable to work due to certain things, such as medical conditions, according to Governor Josh Green, it’s going to leave more than 400,000 people on Medicaid in Hawaiʻi without long-term care, dental, or help with prescription costs.
“The biggest problem is when you take away Medicaid dollars, the rural health care system begins to crumble. So it’s not just the people who are Medicaid that live in rural areas like hospitals I worked in when I first came to Hawaiʻi. It’s also all of their neighbors,” said Green.
State House Minority Floor Leader, Rep. Diamond Garcia said no vulnerable person who receives Medicaid services will be cut off.
“If you’re in that category, there’ll be a new requirement, and that is a 20-hour work requirement each week, or 20 hours of volunteer service, or go to school, so no one will lose services if they cooperate with the program. I want to make clear that this isn’t cuts to Medicaid. This is simply recalibrating Medicaid back to its original intent,” said Garcia.
Planned Parenthood Hawaiʻi serves thousands annually, offering everything from cancer screenings to contraceptives. But under the bill, they would lose all funding.
“You know, it’s really important for folks in Hawaiʻi to know that we are still here. We are going to continue to fight for their access to, you know, be able to choose the provider that they rely on and trust most,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest. “Cancers go undetected. health screenings are delayed or put off altogether. STIs are not treated properly, so it really does further harm the public health infrastructure when politicians play these political games on the backs of our patients.”
But supporters say the bill has benefits. It permanently extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and adds new deductions for parents, seniors and students.
According to a Tax Policy Center analysis, households would see their taxes reduced by nearly $3,000.
“This will directly help middle-class Americans. There’s no tax on tips in this bill. There’s no tax on overtime work in my district,” said Garcia. “This will be a huge, huge help, especially here in Hawaiʻi, where lots of our income is relied upon by tip.”
Also in the bill, the end of tax credits for electric vehicles, cuts to clean energy subsidies, a $1000 savings fund for every newborn, new caps on how much students can borrow in federal student loans and $46 billion for border wall construction.
Hawaiʻi U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono voted against the bill, calling it “terrible” and “a big ugly betrayal.”
“It does put push for priorities that the Republican Party has pushed for and advocated for for years. So I understand why they’d be against it. I think this is a great bill for the American people,” said Garcia.
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The House and Senate must come to an agreement on the bill before it becomes law, with President Trump saying he wants to have it on his desk by July 4.