If you watched CNN This Morning on July 2nd, you might think President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill was about to strip millions of struggling Americans of life-saving healthcare, dooming millions of our elderly, disabled individuals, and single pregnant mothers to certain demise. But what you actually witnessed was yet another shameless disinformation campaign, a desperate attempt to frame a targeted and fiscally responsible reform as just another instance of President Trump’s alleged bent to authoritarianism.
Among the drama of the segment– which was literally opened by a Tiktok video of a doctor lecturing Republican Senators with sad music in the background– CNN failed to mention that this bill did not cut healthcare, it actually saves money for healthcare by denying it to people who are abusing the system and taking from those who need it.
Host Audie Cornish and Kaiser Family Foundation’s Julie Rovner tried to paint a picture of dying patients and collapsing hospitals that will certainly ensue because of the “paperwork” involved with the modest work requirement for able-bodied, childless adults on Medicaid which most states already require (click "expand"):
CORNISH: So I want to talk about this work requirement. The idea of work requirements is not new. States have done it for a while. Can you talk about what's distinct about how it's done in this bill?
ROVNER: Yeah, most people on Medicaid already meet these requirements. They either work or they go school or they care for someone at home. The problem isn't the work requirement itself. The problem is the paperwork that's involved with the work requirement. What we found in states that have tried to do this is that people have difficulty reporting these activities or proving that they've done these things. They have trouble uploading documents. Someone described it as like having to file your income taxes every month. That's how eligible people end up losing coverage.
This bill didn’t affect children, seniors, the disabled, or single mothers. It simply asked that those who can work, do work, or volunteer, or attend school for just 80 hours a month to receive taxpayer-funded Medicaid. That’s around 20 hours a week. Less than part-time. This was very similar to what Democratic President Bill Clinton signed into law in the 90s.
Yet CNN chose to amplify a TikTok doctor’s emotional plea about chemotherapy and insulin rationing as if the GOP were yanking IVs out of the arms of cancer patients.
The One Big Beautiful Bill aimed to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse from being siphoned out of the Medicaid system over the next decade. It doesn’t slash a dime from anyone who actually qualifies and complies with the rules. In fact, the fake news being spread about the legislation is so prominent that The White House website has an entire page dedicated to providing facts to combat the most common left talking points.
But CNN opted for Rovner’s bureaucratic lament that people might struggle with “paperwork” as if filing a basic form monthly was too cruel a burden for someone receiving free healthcare funded by working Americans. It’s worth noting that most people on Medicaid already meet these requirements, by Rovner’s own admission. The issue wasn’t the policy, it was the political theater.
Another talking point from the segment was that hospitals will go under if patients are removed from Medicaid. This assumes those removed were rightfully on Medicaid in the first place. What the bill prevents was taxpayers subsidizing hospitals to treat people who weren’t eligible either due to misreporting, failure to meet work rules, or outright fraud.
CNN’s logic was backwards: it assumed more government dependency equals better care. But in reality, sustainable healthcare means targeting resources where they’re most needed, not creating an endless entitlement with no accountability. Much like the increases in education spending was yielding better results.
Cornish and Rovner tried to play semantic gymnastics over whether this reform is a “cut.” Rovner admits Medicaid spending will actually increase under the bill, but because it won’t grow at the same breakneck pace Democrats want, they label it a “cut” (click "expand"):
CORNISH: And finally, the math– I don't know if it's semantics about whether these are cuts or changes or increases. Help me understand the talking points.
ROVNER: Yeah, this goes back years and years and years to when Congress used to try to cut Medicare, and there were arguments that we’re not really cutting it. It's true that Medicaid spending will continue to grow, but if it doesn't keep up with the cost of healthcare or the number– the numbers who are eligible, then there will be less money. There will– for these hospitals, for these people. So yes, in the aggregate, Medicaid spending will go up. But that doesn't mean that people won't lose their coverage and hospitals won't be hurt by the fact that they're going to have to treat patients who don't have any insurance.
If your salary goes up two percent instead of 10 percent, it’s not a pay cut, it’s just not a fantasy raise.
CNN’s July 2nd segment was leftist activism framed as news, wrapped in emotion and scare tactics, divorced from the facts of the bill itself. The One Big Beautiful Bill doesn’t take away healthcare, it protects the healthcare safety net from being drained by people who were ripping off the system, making it more sustainable for those who truly need it.
The complete transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.
CNN This Morning
July 2nd, 2025
6:47:20 AM EST[TEASER VIA TIKTOK VIDEO]: I wish every Senator who voted for this had to shadow a doctor like me for just one day. They'd see the patients that they had to talk to about affording their chemotherapy, mothers rationing their kid’s insulin because they can't afford it, and people dying too young. Not because medicine failed them, but because finances did.
[CUTS TO LIVE]
AUDIE CORNISH: Okay, so Medicaid may in fact end up looking very different if the President's spending bill passes, and now Republicans seek to add a new work requirement that could impact millions. It's part of an effort to rein in the nation's safety net program with up to $1 trillion in cuts. While the bill would cap and reduce taxes states impose on hospitals, it would also require most adults to work, volunteer or study 80 hours a month to qualify for enrollment.
So what does that mean for the millions of people who rely on the program? Well, we're joined now by Julie Rovner, Chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Family Foundation Health News. Julie, good morning.
JULIE ROVNER: Good morning.
CORNISH: So I want to talk about this work requirement. The idea of work requirements is not new. States have done it for a while. Can you talk about what's distinct about how it's done in this bill?
ROVNER: Yeah, most people on Medicaid already meet these requirements. They either work or they go school or they care for someone at home. The problem isn't the work requirement itself. The problem is the paperwork that's involved with the work requirement.
What we found in states that have tried to do this is that people have difficulty reporting these activities or proving that they've done these things. They have trouble uploading documents. Someone described it as like having to file your income taxes every month. That's how eligible people end up losing coverage. And indeed, the Congressional Budget Office says that perhaps as many as 12 million people could lose coverage if this bill becomes law.
CORNISH: I also want to talk about the effect on hospitals, because I don't always understand hospital math, right?. How do changes to Medicaid affect everybody else? What does it mean for that industry?
ROVNER: Well, people get sick regardless of whether they have insurance. So, if they have Medicaid and they get sick and they come to the hospital, the hospitals get paid, they don't necessarily get paid as much as they would if the people had private insurance or Medicare, but they do get paid something.
If these people lose their insurance, they're still going to come to the hospital, the hospital is still going to treat them, but now they won't get paid. This is a huge problem for hospitals that have large populations of Medicaid patients. That includes inner city urban hospitals, but also rural hospitals where a lot of people are on Medicaid. So if these people become uninsured, the hospitals could well go under.
CORNISH: And finally, the math– I don't know if it's semantics about whether these are cuts or changes or increases. Help me understand the talking points.
ROVNER: Yeah, this goes back years and years and years to when Congress used to try to cut Medicare, and there were arguments that we’re not really cutting it. It's true that Medicaid spending will continue to grow, but if it doesn't keep up with the cost of healthcare or the number– the numbers who are eligible, then there will be less money. There will– for these hospitals, for these people. So yes, in the aggregate, Medicaid spending will go up. But that doesn't mean that people won't lose their coverage and hospitals won't be hurt by the fact that they're going to have to treat patients who don't have any insurance.
CORNISH: Julie Rovner is Chief Washington Correspondent for Kaiser Family Foundation Health News. Thank you, Julie.
ROVNER: Thank you.
