I’ve spent the past month worrying if I’d retain my healthcare coverage after President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that aims to cut federal Medicaid funding by about 1 trillion over the next decade. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” could cause about 11.8 million people nationwide — including about 95,000 thousand in D.C. — to lose coverage. The legislation will leave some of the most financially vulnerable people without affordable healthcare. Vague language in the legislation has also left many people — including myself, one of the roughly 3.5 million college students enrolled in the program — questioning whether they’ll meet the new eligibility requirements.
About 71 million people are currently on Medicaid, a public health insurance program established in 1965 to offer health coverage for inpatient and outpatient hospital services, physician services and laboratory and X-ray exams for people who fall below the poverty level or have disabilities. Program recipients include low-wage workers who don’t have job-based insurance or are between jobs, and people with chronic health conditions. It also includes about 3.5 million college students, like myself.
The “Big Beautiful Bill” introduced an 80-hour per month work requirement with at least twice-a-year renewals, as well as changes to immigrant eligibility as early as next year. Many current Medicaid recipients fear they’ll fail to meet the requirements or struggle to properly complete the requalification process twice a year.
For most of my life, my family and I have never really had to worry about health coverage, since we were a low-income family and qualified for Medicaid. My mom often cited healthcare coverage as a large incentive to keep living in the United States because we never had to worry too much about the essential expenses that came with doctors and medicine. Living next to the Mexican border also meant we had the privilege of seeking alternative healthcare options, as Mexican citizens, if Medicaid couldn’t cover a medical visit or procedure. But with Trump’s bill, there has been some uncertainty within my home about what my medical coverage would look like in the future if I were no longer receiving Medicaid coverage.
Currently, if a student is not claimed as a dependent by their parents and is living by themselves and is low-income, they qualify for Medicaid. But Trump’s bill has added restrictions, like working 80 hours — which should exempt students enrolled at least “half time” —and more frequent eligibility checks, which will force people to navigate heightened paperwork.
The bill states that a student is eligible for coverage if enrolled half time, but it does not explain what qualifies as half time. Does it mean six credits or being enrolled for one semester? The bill states that being enrolled half time is enough to qualify a student, but at the end of the section, it says that the following “community engagement” activities, including being enrolled half time, should add up to 80 hours. But without a student knowing what half time enrollment looks like, they won’t know if they have to work to add it up to 80 hours.
And if the renewal process were to happen during summer, it does not explain if a previous or future course load would qualify to renew for health coverage, or if a student would have to work for 80 hours to qualify for that summer month. Because the bill is vague in some areas, I find myself worrying if I will no longer be eligible for Medicaid coverage because of some technicality. And if I don’t qualify for it, I would have no affordable health care options in D.C., because health care is pretty expensive in the United States
A poll earlier this month by KFF Health found that about 60 percent of adults reported being worried about not being able to afford health care services or unexpected medical bills. And the United States spends around twice as much on health care per capita than its peer countries, with countries like Canada and the U.K. spending over $6,000 per person compared to the United States, which spent about $12,000 in 2021, even though the United States does not have universal health care.
The bill tries to limit the nation’s spending on Medicaid by cutting enrollment through more added restrictions. The government is saving money by leaving people who are already financially struggling to keep up with the expensive health care costs. These new changes may help with the United States’ expenses, but it is not going to do anything more than that. Research by Health Affairs has found in the past that work requirements do not increase employment rates and simply leave people uninsured.
Medicaid was created for the people who are the most financially at-risk and who already can’t afford the costs of health care insurance. Medicaid is meant to address that gap and putting in more restrictions will only create more barriers. The bill will only leave a financially vulnerable population in a more vulnerable state— especially because of the lack of affordable alternatives.
I’ve spent the past month worrying about whether my health care coverage will be cut, if I’ll receive a letter or email saying I’m no longer eligible or if I’ll be denied when it comes time to renew. I’m also uncertain about what I would do if I were to lose coverage in the foreseeable future — something I’m sure many others worry about, too.
When my brother received confirmation that he qualified for Medi-Cal for another year a week ago, something he probably wasn’t at risk of losing in the first place because he is both low-income and has disabilities, he quickly celebrated and said “God is good.” But seeing him celebrate over something as simple and essential as medical coverage was grim. People shouldn’t be losing sleep or celebrating over keeping such a basic necessity.
Andrea Mendoza-Melchor, a senior majoring in journalism and mass communication, is the opinions editor.