Part 1: Health Care and SNAP Issues
By Galen Smith and Carrie Phillips
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) was signed into law in July 2025 and extends many of the features established in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Most Americans are keenly aware that the bill’s tax cuts will benefit the wealthiest people the most and disadvantage those at the lower end of the income spectrum. For example, the highest-earning 5% of Americans are projected to receive more than 45% of the tax cuts whereas the lowest-earning 20% of Americans will receive less than 1% of the tax cuts. State-level impacts will be broad-based, especially in terms of the pernicious effects on the social safety net.
This month we’ll focus on the OBBB’s impacts on North Carolina related to Medicaid, Medicare, and the SNAP program.