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PNS - Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - Israel announces wave of strikes on Tehran after Trump demands Iran's unconditional surrender; NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court; Federal bill would dim rooftop solar's future, says Michigan CEO; Despite known Iowa nitrate risks, EPA focuses on fluoride; Georgia's Macon-Bibb County launches justice reform plan.
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PNS - Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - Israel and Iran trade strikes on fifth day of conflict; Congress is holding emergency briefings on security after Minnesota shootings; MA lawmakers consider single-payer health care system; OR farmers block construction of new factory farm; CA lawmakers consider making End of Life Option Act permanent.
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By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - Six Nobel laureate economists are among critics warning Congressional legislators that cutting Medicaid by $715 billion would drop tens of millions of Americans from health insurance coverage, lead to hospital closures and add trillions to the national debt. Comments from Josh Bivens, chief economist, Economic Policy Institute.
Click on the image above for the audio. Under Medicaid cuts proposed in the current budget reconciliation bill, federal spending in Montana would be reduced by $2 billion to $4 billion over the next 10 years, according to KFF. (Adobe Stock)
Kathleen Shannon
June 17, 2025 - As Congress considers cuts to safety net programs in what Republicans are calling the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 16 million Americans, including 44,000 Montanans, would lose Medicaid health insurance.
Josh Bivens, chief economist at the nonpartisan think tank the Economic Policy Institute, said if the bill passes as-is, health providers would see a steep increase in what's known as uncompensated care, when people without coverage get sick but cannot afford to pay their medical bills.
"It means hospitals and doctors no longer receive that income stream from Medicaid payments," Bivens explained. "Lots of them are going to be forced out of business and there's going to be closures of hospitals, especially in rural counties."
Republicans have cast doubt on the CBO projections and claim cutting $715 billion from Medicaid, by eliminating fraud and adding work requirements for adults, would not reduce coverage. The GOP bill aims to fund Trump administration priorities, including more immigration raids and border wall construction and extending tax cuts passed in 2017.
Bivens pointed out if the bill becomes law, it would result in what he describes as the direct transfer of income from vulnerable families to the richest Americans. He notes the average cuts to Medicaid, which would kick in after the 2026 midterm elections, would be more than $70 billion a year.
"If you look at the tax cuts that will be received by just people making over $1 million per year, those are $70 billion as well," Bivens emphasized. "We're going to take $70 billion away from poor families on Medicaid, and we're going to give it to families who are making more than $1 million per year."
Six Nobel laureate economists have signed an open letter opposing cuts to safety net programs in the budget reconciliation bill, and warning the measure would add $5 trillion to the national debt.
"I think the fact that six Nobel Prize winners said, 'This is important enough for me to try to draw attention to the implications of this bill,' should make people realize the stakes are really large," Bivens added.
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PNS - Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - Political tensions rise after Minnesota assassinations. Trump's DOJ demands sweeping election data from Colorado. Advocates mark LGBTQIA+ pay inequity, and U.S. and U.K. reach a new trade deal.
