Donald Trump touts his signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB), as a grand measure that will be “the beginning of our new Golden Age.” In reality, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the bill is only beautiful to the billionaires. The BBB will slash nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and Medicare, which means up to 17 million working people will be kicked off their healthcare while the richest 20% get massive tax breaks. The bill is expected to slash 1.2 million jobs and hundreds of hospitals in rural areas are set to close. 

We do not have to accept this cut to already limited healthcare services. Instead, we can organize against these cuts and raise taxes on the rich to pay for free, universal healthcare. As the BBB stands, the cutting of funds for social services will have dire consequences for millions of Americans, particularly the most marginalized. 

One telling example of these consequences can be seen in cancer diagnosis rates. In the US, cancer diagnosis rates are lower among people aged 60 to 64 compared to the general population, but they surge at age 65. Why? Age 65 is when people become eligible for Medicare, and thus gain access to previously inaccessible medical services that could identify and treat cancers. Tragically—and unnecessarily—this system forces people who are just a few years away from qualifying for Medicare to delay medical care despite experiencing the symptoms of cancer. This shows that not only is Medicare needed, but it must also be drastically expanded into free, universal healthcare for all.

The BBB doesn’t only take healthcare from the elderly—millions of other working people will lose access to healthcare in the coming years. Some of these people will lose coverage through subtle methods such as the end of a tax refund designed to help working families afford insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Much less subtle is the BBB’s mandate requiring all “able-bodied adults” between the ages of 18 and 64 to engage in 80 hours per month of “work-related activities” to maintain Medicaid coverage. 

The mountain of paperwork to climb each month to receive benefits will be the frustrating equivalent of filing yearly income taxes. This, in effect, will mean many working people losing coverage. Furthermore, the forced austerity will be used by local and state governments as justification for reducing their own spending on healthcare services offered. In practice, the BBB looks like millions of people removed from Medicaid, unaffordable Medicare and a further hollowing out of services in underserved areas—all so the rich can become even richer.

The passage of the BBB makes clear what the ruling class wants—medical care as a privilege for the wealthy while the rest of us are left to die when sick. Unfortunately, Bernie Sanders’s previous call for “Medicare for All” is a far cry from the demands of the Democrats, who have put up no real fight against the passing of this bill. The Democrats, loyal to their own billionaire backers, will make a show of wringing their hands, only to ask for our votes come the midterms. We urgently need a new workers’ party that fights on the side of ordinary people, not on the side of the billionaires. We deserve a better society: one that doesn’t prioritize the profit of a few billionaires over the rest of us.