The GOP One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) is deadly for Idaho and for all of America. The poorest Americans will lose almost 3% of their income while the wealthiest gain over 2%. All Americans who make under $60,000 / year will lose money if this bill passes! And – millionaires get a tax cut! Idaho was a significant beneficiary of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartiasan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for Idaho’s clean energy sector. Idaho’s clean energy projects are at significant risk with the OBBB.
The bill explodes the federal deficit, cuts taxes for millionaires and billionaires and transfers wealth to the super rich, decimates Medicaid and rural hospitals, slashes food assistance and destroys American energy production and the construction industry. The NABTU estimates the bill will threaten over 1.75 million construction jobs. The combined effects of the OBBBA and Tariffs will decimate household earnings. In addition, if you buy health insurance on the exchange (i.e., ACA / Obamacare), you will face massive premium hikes! In many cases, you will pay three and four times more than what you currently pay.
Health Care Cuts
The current GOP budget is a massive transfer of wealth from low-income families to the wealthy through cuts to Medicaid and tax cuts to the rich. And the GOPs response to concerns from their constituents about Medicaid cuts? Well – you can see what their senior members say below 👇
Well, we all are going to die
They’ll get over it.
The current budget has the largest health care cuts in recent history! MILLIONS will be kicked off life saving care and hundreds of rural hospitals are at risking of closing in rural communities. The CBO estimates over 8.2 Million Americans will lose coverage in ACA exchange plans. However, the Wakely Consulting Group, now estimates that approximately 13 million Americans could lose coverage in the ACA Marketplace. The Bill will cut health coverage by $800 billion and SNAP by $300 billion and give the wealthy over $1.1 trillion in tax cuts! In Idaho over 350,000 children and adults are supported by Medicaid. Over 31% of births in Idaho are supported by Medicaid and 65% of seniors in nursing homes receive Medicaid support. Medicaid covers approximately 18% of all Idaho’s residents.
Medicaid cuts will harm all residents of rural communities by undermining the financial security of the hospitals. The economic and health effects of closing rural hospitals will be catastrophic for all residents of those communities. Successful birth outcomes will suffer when patients have to travel to receive care.
Dropping the ACA subsidies will impact almost 200,000 Idahoans! Depending on family size, premium costs increase anywhere from 48% to 189%! Well over 10% of Idaho’s population will see significant increases in their costs for health care.
The Medicaid cuts will significantly impact nursing homes! Over 60% of the residents in a nursing home rely on Medicaid funding. With the decreased funding, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) estimates that over one in four nursing homes will close. There are over 80 nursing homes in the state of Idaho and the Medicaid cuts could cause over 20 of these facilities to close or see significant impacts. These cuts will also result in understaffed facilities leading to a decline in the quality of care. We will see more falls and sickness to the elderly.
Energy Costs
The One Big Beautiful bill will drive up energy costs by as much as 30% in every single state!. Energy costs for Idahoans will increase by over 8%! The bill will kill the subsidies for clean energy projects and heavily tax them resulting in huge increases for Idahoans.
The bill is projected to increase energy costs for all consumers due to cuts in tax credits and incentives. As a result of these cuts, consumers will be paying higher electricity prices and higher gasoline costs. Phasing out these tax credits mean less wind and solar energy projects which help keep utility bills lower. Average household energy costs for Idaho are projected to rise to over $4,100 per year! According to US Energy Information Administration, retail energy prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation and are projected to continue to rise.