What Low-income Families Could Lose from the “Big Beautiful Bill”

Family Compassion
Jun 23
2 min read

Republican lawmakers say their new budget plan will help the country. But for many low-income families, especially those with children, it could mean losing critical support — from health care to food to financial assistance.

Health Care for Children

Today, more than 37 million children in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). These programs provide prenatal care for moms, cover nearly half of all rural births, and ensure kids get regular check-ups and emergency care.

The new bill could:

Make it harder for families to enroll in CHIP.
Lock families out of coverage if they miss a payment.
Add work requirements to Medicaid for the first time.

Even though the House version says parents are exempt, experts say those rules don’t always work as intended. Families could still get caught in red tape and lose coverage.

“When there’s more red tape, families fall through the cracks,” says Joan Alker of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families.

In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that these changes could lead to 1 in 5 children losing Medicaid coverage — especially if states can’t afford to fill the gap.

Food Assistance at Home and School

The bill also proposes big changes to SNAP, or food stamps, which help more than 15 million children afford groceries.

This bill would bring "the deepest cut to food assistance in history," says Katie Bergh, a senior policy analyst for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The House plan would:

Add stricter work requirements that cut people off benefits, even if they’re trying.
Slash more than $290 billion from the program over the next 10 years.
Make states pay part of the bill — something they’ve never had to do before.

That shift could force states to reduce benefits, make eligibility harder, or drop out of the program entirely. And when children lose SNAP, they may also lose free school meals.

According to the CBO, the poorest families would lose about $1,600 a year in support — mostly from cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Meanwhile, the richest households could gain $12,000 a year in tax savings.

Support Through the Tax System

Many changes would make life harder for low-income families.

For example:

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would be harder to claim, with more paperwork required.
The Child Tax Credit (CTC) would rise from $2,000 to $2,500 — but many families wouldn’t qualify unless they earn more than $48,000 a year.
Children with immigrant parents could lose access, even if they’re U.S. citizens.

This means 1 in 3 children could miss out on the full tax credit, especially those in families struggling the most.

What Research Shows

Experts agree: helping families early pays off. Kids who have access to health care, food, and financial support do better in school, get better jobs, and grow into healthier adults who contribute more to the economy.

“Every dollar spent on the child tax credit can return $10 in long-term benefits,” says Megan Curran from Columbia University.