Pediatrician Explains How The “Big Beautiful Bill” Would Affect All Kids

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), a massive omnibus championed by Donald Trump, has passed both the House and Senate (though it needs to go back to the House for another vote). The latest iteration of the bill would see enormous federal spending cuts, including more than a trillion dollars in Medicaid — government health insurance for low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities — and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). And that’s a problem for everyone, says social media personality and pediatrician “Dr. Beachgem.”

“Your child’s healthcare will likely be impacted by the Big Beautiful Bill,” she begins. “Even if you are gainfully employed and you have private insurance.

Her (extremely simplified) explanation is as follows:

“The Big Beautiful Bill has significant tax cuts. And if you decrease the money coming into the government, you also have to decrease the spending,” she explains. And one of those cuts is coming at the expense of Medicaid. She continues, “To put this in context, it’s important to know that about 49% of kids in the United States are either covered by Medicaid or CHIP; 41% of [births] in the United States are covered by Medicaid.”

Now perhaps you’re thinking “OK, I’m not in the 49% so I’ll be just fine.” Not necessarily, and to explain why, Dr. Beachgem has to go back about two decades.

“Community hospitals used to have pediatric beds and pediatric departments. But it turns out kids are not that profitable, and putting an adult in that bed instead of a pediatric patient makes more money. So a lot of places have shut down their pediatric beds — decreasing the total number of beds in our country for pediatric patients — and most of these beds are now available in pediatric hospitals.”

Are you beginning to see why this could be a problem? If not, the good doctor spells it out:

“These pediatric hospitals see pediatric patients. And we’ve already said that 49% of kids are on Medicaid or CHIP programs, so pediatric hospitals are largely funded by Medicaid, which we are gutting. And so we are decreasing the access to care for all of the children in the community and potentially decreasing the pediatric beds even further. This could be a huge issue.”

“I am all about cutting wasteful spending,” she concludes. “But cutting Medicaid is not cutting wasteful spending. It is cutting a life-saving program for seniors, people on disability, low income families — especially children— and it could impact the healthcare access for children around the country.”

So, you know the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats?” This is kind of the opposite of that. And even just focusing in on those who would be directly affected by this legislation is dire. According to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), passage of the current iteration of OBBBA would cause 11.8 million Americans to lose health insurance.