HOW H.R. 1 WILL HARM CHILDREN NOW AND FAR INTO THE FUTURE - ISSUE BRIEF - JULY 2025

Oct 15, 2026

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Issue brief arguing that the passage of H.R. 1 by a partisan Congress puts children at unprecedented risk now and over the long term. It highlights major impacts including Medicaid and CHIP cuts, reduced retroactive coverage, limits on provider taxes and state directed payments, and work-reporting requirements that threaten children’s access to routine care. The brief also warns about reduced SNAP funding, tighter administrative and eligibility rules for food assistance, an inadequate Child Tax Credit, and education voucher changes that undermine public schools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Medicaid and CHIP Cuts

Retroactive Coverage

Provider Taxes/State Directed Payments

Work Requirements

Immigrant Eligibility

Defunding the Child Anti-Hunger Program (SNAP)

Administrative and Eligibility Changes

Leaving Children Behind in Tax Policy

Child Tax Credit

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

Trump Savings Account Provision

Undermining Public Schools

Private School Voucher Program

ISSUE BRIEF: HOW H. R. 1 WILL HARM CHILDREN NOWAND FAR INTO THE FUTURE The recent passage of H.R. 1 by a partisan Congress chooses billionaires over babies, and puts children in unprecedented peril. Here are some of the many ways that H.R. 1 will hurt children in the U.S. and even around the world in the very near term and in the years to come: Cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid and CHIP: Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide health insurance to over 37 million children in the United States and Medicaid covers over 40% of births. H. R. 1 includes the largest funding cuts to these programs in their history, jeopardizing children’s access to quality, affordable health care coverage. • Retroactive Coverage: Currently, eligible individuals can have their medical expenses from up to three months before their application date paid by Medicaid, as long as they met the program’s requirements during that time. H.R. 1 reduces this coverage to 60 days for children and pregnant women (and 30 days for expansion adults), making families worry about paperwork and costly medical bills rather than their child’s health. • Provider Taxes/State Directed Payments: States use these mechanisms to fund their Medicaid programs and support health care providers, especially those that serve children including pediatricians, children’s hospitals, and rural hospitals. H.R. 1 restrictions on these mechanisms will force states to reduce support for pediatric health care providers and even cut eligibility and benefits. • Work Requirements: When parents/caretakers have coverage, kids are more likely to have coverage and to access routine health care. H.R. 1 imposes work reporting requirements, jeopardizing parent/caretaker coverage and threatening household financial security for children. While the law provides an exemption for parents of children under the age of 13, past experiments with work requirements have shown that the administrative burdens of navigating the reporting process leads to massive coverage loss. • Immigrant Eligibility: Medicaid is already restricted to people who hold certain immigration statuses. H. R. 1 further restricts immigrant eligibility to only 1): Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs; “Green Card Holders”); 2) Cuban and Haitian entrants; and 3) Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants. States still retain the option to provide coverage to lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women. However, the new eligibility restrictions will impact refugees, asylees, and survivors of domestic violence and trafficking. Defunds the main child anti-hunger program: One-in-five children experiences food insecurity. This bill endangers food assistance by cutting close to $200 billion of federal funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) . H. R. 1 changes the funding structure of FIRST FOCUS ON CHILDREN | HOW H.R. 1 WILL HARM CHILDREN NOWAND FAR INTO THE FUTURE ISSUE BRIEF | JULY 2025 1 ISSUE BRIEF: HOW H. R. 1 WILL HARM CHILDREN NOWAND FAR INTO THE FUTURE the program to place a larger burden of the cost on states. States will now be required to cover 75% of administrative costs, as well as will likely be forced to contribute to the cost of benefits for the first time. A state’s responsibility for the benefit cost is dependent on its error rate, with only states receiving under a 6% error rate exempt from contributing to the benefit cost. In 2024, only 9 states/territories met that error rate threshold. How each state chooses to respond to new financial restraints remains to be seen, but due to the magnitude of these costs it is expected some states will be forced to limit enrollment or withdraw from the program. This could lead to a reality in which there is large variation in how child nutrition is supported from state to state. This bill also includes administrative changes that could lessen household access to food. For example, H. R. 1 narrows the

FAQs

How does H.R. 1 affect Medicaid and CHIP coverage for children?

H.R. 1 proposes the largest historical funding cuts to Medicaid and CHIP, jeopardizing children’s access to affordable health care. It also reduces retroactive coverage windows and restricts state mechanisms that support pediatric providers.

What SNAP changes does the brief say could reduce household access to food?

The brief states H.R. 1 cuts close to $200 billion in federal funding for SNAP and shifts more administrative and benefit costs onto states. It also narrows caregiver work-exemption rules and adds new burdensome requirements for former foster youth to qualify.

How does the brief describe H.R. 1’s impact on tax credits and public schooling?

It argues H.R. 1 provides an inadequate Child Tax Credit that leaves millions of children without the full credit and blocks some entirely. It also describes a new private school voucher program that jeopardizes public schools by redirecting incentives toward private donations.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Kyle