Medicaid After HR1: State Challenges and Policy Tradeoffs

The passage of H.R.1 in July 2025 (also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) enacted the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program’s history, with far-reaching consequences for state budgets and beneficiaries. States are now working to implement the required changes, including the addition of work requirements, co-payments, and more frequent eligibility checks, measures that could result in coverage losses for millions of people. This panel will examine how states are navigating these implementation challenges, the difficult tradeoffs states face, and how research can help in understanding the impact.

Supported by the Charles C. Leighton, MD Memorial Fund.

Speakers

Patricia Boozang, MPH

Senior Managing Director, Manatt

Lanhee Chen, PhD

David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies, Hoover Institution

Benjamin Sommers, MD, PhD

Huntley Quelch Professor of Health Care Economics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD (moderator)

Executive Director, Penn LDI; Robert D. Eilers Memorial – William Maul Measey Professor in Health Care Management and Economics, Wharton School; Professor, Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine