On Wednesday, Alabama Arise hosted the first of two livestreamed webinars detailing the impacts of HR1–also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”–the omnibus tax and spending bill which Republicans passed in July, enacting sweeping cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, and other social safety net programs.
The current government shutdown is largely a consequence of the OBBBA’s political fallout, as Democratic lawmakers are demanding the reversal of the legislation’s Medicaid cuts and the extension of Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, ePTC’s, before they agree to reopen the government. During Wednesday’s livestream, Debbie Smith, Arise’s Cover Alabama campaign director, spoke to the impact which those cuts will have on Alabama families if they are not repealed.
While Smith acknowledged that some of the OBBBA’s provisions will not affect Alabama’s Medicaid program as dramatically as other states due to Alabama’s lack of Medicaid expansion under the ACA, she did stress that the legislation will still heavily impact Alabamians’ ability to access affordable healthcare coverage, particularly as a result of its failure to extend the ePTC’s.
Currently, over 400,000 Alabamians use these premium tax credits to access more affordable coverage through healthcare.gov. If Congress fails to extend the credits before open enrollment begins on November 1, Alabamians’ healthcare premiums will nearly double heading into 2026, causing an estimated 130,000 Alabamians to lose coverage.
Additionally, the OBBBA restricts provider taxes, limiting Alabama’s ability to increase Medicaid funding at the state level. The legislation also eliminates federal incentives for Alabama to expand Medicaid through the ACA, exacerbating the coverage gap which leaves hundreds of thousands of Alabamians unable to afford private coverage while still being prohibited from accessing Medicaid.
In slashing Medicaid funding, the OBBBA also threatens to worsen Alabama’s rural hospital crisis, putting around 20 rural hospitals in the state at risk of closure. This is due to anticipated increases in uncompensated care costs, as decreased Medicaid coverage in the state will cause more hospitals to take on uninsured patients.
While rural hospitals in Alabama were already facing high costs related to uncompensated care, Smith argued that the Medicaid cuts in the OBBBA “made things much worse.” And although Congress did pass the Rural Health Transformation Fund to provide states with funds to address this issue, Smith stated that the $500 million which Alabama is set to receive over the next five years will be a “drop in the bucket” and do little to save rural healthcare in the state.
Wednesday’s webinar also featured LaTrell Clifford Wood, Arise’s hunger policy advocate. Wood discussed the OBBBA’s impact on food security and hunger in the state.
Similarly to its slashing of federal Medicaid funding, Wood described how the OBBBA includes major cuts to SNAP, which provides food assistance to low-income Americans. These cuts will shift program costs to the states, requiring Alabama to either raise more funds to maintain the program or decrease the number of Alabamians who can access SNAP benefits.
According to Wood, over 750,000 Alabamians currently participate in SNAP, with 40 percent of SNAP recipients in the state being children. As a result of the OBBBA’s cuts, Alabama will need to appropriate approximately $35 million in additional funding for SNAP if it wishes to maintain the program’s current size for 2026. If the state legislature is unable or unwilling to meet those funding demands, then Alabama will be forced to reduce SNAP enrollment, leaving working Alabama families without access to much-needed food assistance.
In addition to these cuts, the OBBBA also establishes new work reporting requirements for SNAP beneficiaries who were previously exempt from such requirements, including veterans, people with disabilities, individuals dealing with homelessness, and young adults recently coming out of foster care. Asylees and refugees in the U.S. will also lose SNAP eligibility, except for those from Cuba, Haiti and people in the country under a compact of free association with Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
Wood also highlighted how the current government shutdown is causing funding lapses for SNAP, the Women, Infants, & Children Nutrition Program, WIC, and school meal programs. Wood echoed calls from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for the Trump administration to use reserve contingency funds to maintain November benefits for SNAP recipients amidst the shutdown.
Both Wood and Davis also used the webinar as an opportunity to urge individuals and organizations across Alabama to take action against the federal cuts to healthcare and food assistance.
Davis urged those on the call to demand Congress extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits by contacting their representatives and by signing a petition organized by Alabama Arise and Cover Alabama. She also urged anyone who has gone without health coverage, skipped care they needed, or had direct experience with Medicaid or Marketplace coverage to share their stories through Cover Alabama’s website.
Wood also encouraged individuals to pressure Congress to repeal the OBBBA’s SNAP cuts and to call on state lawmakers to find the funding needed to maintain SNAP benefits if those cuts are not reversed. Additionally, Wood asked that individuals call on their legislators to protect and expand school meal access in the state.
Arise is set to host the second session of its “HR 1 Impacts” series on Monday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m.
