Mental health providers and advocacy organizations are warning steep cuts to Medicaid will harm access to behavioral health services.
On July 4, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. The sprawling spending package will cut more than $800 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade, including by implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid benefits.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates more than 11 million people will lose health coverage over 10 years as a result of the bill. Taking into account the expected expiration of premium subsidies for marketplace coverage, the CBO estimates as many as 16 million people could be uninsured by 2034.
Medicaid is the single largest payer for both mental health and substance use treatment services, the American Psychiatric Association said in a July 1 statement.
“In very real terms, this legislation will result in irreparable gaps in access to care for our country’s most vulnerable, many of whom have mental health and substance use disorders, and they will suffer as a result,” APA President Theresa Miskimen Rivera, MD, said.
Daniel Gillison, CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the legislation will “drastically roll back access to mental healthcare” for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Around 40% of adult Medicaid beneficiaries have a mental health condition or substance use disorder, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In a July 3 statement, the foundation said previous research indicates expanding Medicaid access reduces suicide rates.
“At a time of rising depression, anxiety, addiction and suicidal crises, reducing access to care is dangerous and shortsighted,” the foundation said.
