Statement on the Senate Passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill"

Capitol Building circa 2017 (saner times?)

Today's Senate passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" represents a devastating assault on the fundamental core that healthcare should be a human right, not a privilege based on how much money you make. As a Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to addressing homelessness, the social determinants of health, and strengthening our safety net, we firmly stand against this legislation and its profound harm to the most vulnerable and historically marginalized people living in America. 

The Senate's 51-50 vote moves us closer to striping healthcare from over 20 million Americans while cutting over $800 billion from Medicaid—the lifeline that 75 million Americans depend on for basic healthcare. These are not abstract numbers. They represent working families, seniors aging with dignity, people with disabilities seeking independence, and our unhoused neighbors trying to rebuild their lives.

The legislation imposes punitive work requirements that create bureaucratic barriers designed to deny care rather than provide it. Research consistently shows these requirements don't increase employment—they simply make it harder for people to access the healthcare they need to work, live, and thrive.

The bill makes cuts that will devastate urban and rural hospitals already operating on razor-thin margins. It exemplifies the cruelest form of fiscal policy: cutting healthcare for working families to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. It increases the federal deficit by trillions while claiming fiscal responsibility. It promises to "save" Medicaid by gutting it. These contradictions aren't accidents— it is a managed decline of healthcare infrastructure in communities that can least afford it.

For decades, we've accepted Medicaid and government programs as compromises—partial solutions to whole problems. We've negotiated from a position of defending inadequate systems rather than demanding what people actually need: universal healthcare, guaranteed housing, and economic security. This legislation makes clear that compromise with those who view healthcare and human lives as a commodity is impossible. Everything we’re unwilling to fight for is at risk. 

We must move beyond traditional advocacy. Yes, we must call our representatives and urge them to vote No. But writing polite letters to legislators who prioritize corporate donors over constituents is inadequate. We must find ways to be heard: organize mass protests and direct action that disrupts business as usual. When the House takes up this bill, we must make it impossible to ignore the voices of those who will suffer and die under these cuts. We support pursuing meaningful action by: 

• Supporting primary challenges against every legislator who votes for this bill

• Building mutual aid networks to fill gaps created by government abandonment

• Organizing rent strikes and debt strikes to resist economic exploitation

• Creating alternative economic structures that prioritize human needs over profit

• Engaging in sustained protest action to demand universal healthcare and a government that works for the people.

Remember, it doesn't end with this vote—it begins. We're building toward a future where healthcare is guaranteed, housing is a human right, and economic security is universal. This requires moving beyond the limitations of a political system designed to prevent the changes we need.

We stand with every person who will lose coverage under this bill. We stand with rural communities facing hospital closures. We stand with disability rights advocates fighting for independence. We stand with our unhoused neighbors demanding shelter and care. The question isn't whether we can afford universal healthcare—it's whether we can afford not to have it.

We invite every person and organization that shares our values to join us in building the movement that this moment demands. The safety net they're shredding was never strong enough. It's time to weave something unbreakable.

FwdSlash is a Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to addressing homelessness, the social determinants of health, and strengthening support systems for the most vulnerable Americans. We believe healthcare is a human right and will continue fighting until that right is realized for all.