Under the constant barrage of news coming out of Washington, D.C. over the last few months, it can be difficult to single out which federal actions are meant to distract us and which pose real and serious threats for our communities. But here’s one thing that clearly deserves our attention: The potential gutting of our federal safety net.  

On February 25, 2025, the U.S House of Representatives approved a blueprint budget that included disastrous cuts to safety net programs that millions of Washington state residents depend on to stay housed, fed, and healthy.

This 10-year budget framework seeks to cut funding from the congressional committee overseeing Medicaid by $880 billion dollars – more than all federal Medicaid spending in 2023¹ – and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by over $230 billion, all while providing tax breaks to the wealthiest in our country. 

“In this proposed budget, we are seeing a systemic attack on lower income households.”

~Shalimar Gonzales, Solid Ground CEO

 “In this proposed budget, we are seeing a systemic attack on lower income households,” says Shalimar Gonzales, Solid Ground’s CEO. “We’re committed to supporting our communities in King County no matter what happens in D.C., but the harm that this budget poses is too great for any of us to ignore.” Here’s what’s happening, and what it could mean for low-income communities in Seattle and King County.

(For more on what we stand to lose across Washington state, check out the Statewide Poverty Action Network’s blog post, Massive Cuts to Medicaid Are on the Table. Here’s What You Need to Know.) 

Cascading harm of Medicaid cuts 

Medicaid is a critical lifeline that provides lifesaving care for all kinds of people in the U.S., including those living on low incomes, children, and the elderly. One in five Washington state residents – about 1.8 million people – currently rely on the program, including one in six adults, three in five nursing home residents, and three in eight people with disabilities.² 

If the proposed cuts go through, lawmakers in our already cash-strapped state, county, and city will face a stark choice: either find new ways to pay for coverage or allow many of our neighbors to lose potentially lifesaving health care and other critical Medicaid-funded services. The harm would be particularly acute for Medicaid recipients who are homeless or living in permanent supportive housing, including nearly three out of four residents at Solid Ground’s Sand Point Housing.  

A disproportionate impact on our most vulnerable 

The proposed cuts would also hit seniors hard, especially those living on low incomes. This includes around 300,000 Medicare recipients in Washington state who get help paying for their coinsurance, copays, and deductibles through Medicare Savings Programs, which are funded through Medicaid. Medicaid also pays for long-term skilled nursing and assisted-living care, home-based care, and a variety of other services not covered by Medicare, like transportation to appointments, vision and hearing benefits, and medical equipment. If Medicaid is cut, it’s not clear what would happen to those services. 

“When people lose health insurance, often their only hope to get care is to go to the emergency room, which is not only horrible for chronic disease management, it’s a massive cost to the system.”

~Paul Park, Solid Ground Senior Director of Programs

“All we know for now is that any cuts to Medicaid would also impact Medicare,” says Sam Stones, Program Lead for Solid Ground’s Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA), which helps King County seniors and others with disabilities learn about their Medicare options. “They would have serious consequences for Medicare beneficiaries who rely on it to get the health care they need.” 

The potential impact for people who rely on Medicaid to access the basics of health care would be nothing short of devastating. But this isn’t just about Medicaid and Medicare recipients. Medicaid is also a critical source of revenue for our state’s hospitals and health care providers, accounting for 23% of inpatient care and 19% of outpatient care at Washington hospitals in 2023.³ This means the proposed cuts would impact everyone – not just those of us enrolled in Medicaid – as hospitals that have lost a major source of revenue are forced to increase prices or reduce services to make up the difference. 

“When people lose health insurance, often their only hope to get care is to go to the emergency room, which is not only horrible for chronic disease management, it’s a massive cost to the system,” says Paul Park, Solid Ground’s Senior Director of Programs.  

Harm for housing and more 

And the harm doesn’t end there. Medicaid also helps pay for supportive housing services through the Foundational Community Supports (FCS) program, which pairs healthcare services with housing resources for some of our most vulnerable residents. FCS also unlocks Medicaid funding for things like housing navigation, housing stability services, and supportive employment services for people experiencing homelessness. FCS has enrolled over 40,000 Medicaid recipients who are chronically homeless and have complex behavioral health or substance use needs, as well as other long-term care needs or disabilities.⁴

Cities and counties in Washington state also rely heavily on Medicaid to pay for things like behavioral health initiatives and public health programs. King County is already struggling with a shortage of behavioral health services for people living on low incomes, so any cuts to Medicaid funding would hamstring our region’s ability to address people’s behavioral health needs or keep sorely needed public health clinics open.  

If these cuts pass, they would also put immense strain on our state and local governments at a time when they are grappling with significant budget deficits. King County is projecting a $150 million budget deficit for the next two years that could also lead to cuts in legal aid services, support for survivors of gender-based violence, and public safety responses. The City of Seattle has already scaled back on services for tenants and progress toward building more affordable housing in order to balance a $240 million budget deficit this past fall.  

Quite simply, our local human services systems and, most importantly, our communities that rely on these critical services simply cannot afford to lose Medicaid funding.    

A tenuous time for food assistance 

In addition to threatening the future of the Medicaid program as we know it, the U.S. House budget resolution also proposes dramatic cuts to SNAP benefits and child nutrition programs like school Free and Reduced Price Meals – all at time when many Washington state families are already struggling to get enough to eat.  

“SNAP funding doesn’t just affect people’s ability to eat – it impacts homelessness, public health, and employment rates. These cuts could be detrimental to all-around community well-being.”

~Patricia Bowen, Managing Attorney, Solid Ground Benefits Legal Assistance

In the most recent Washington State Food Security Survey, more than half of people surveyed said they’d had to rely on food assistance, with Black and American Indian/Alaska Native households disproportionately affected. Among people considered “food insecure,” 70% said they’d recently cut back on the quantity and quality of the food they buy because of rapidly rising prices. Grocery bills were the biggest source of financial stress for respondents, surpassing rent and utility expenses for many families.  

“Any decrease to a household’s SNAP income results in immediate harm to other areas of their life, as they have to spend the amount they would otherwise spend on housing, medical needs, transportation, childcare, etc. on basic food instead,” says Patricia Bowen, Managing Attorney for Solid Ground’s Benefits Legal Assistance, which helps people access and keep critical public benefits. “SNAP funding doesn’t just affect people’s ability to eat – it impacts homelessness, public health, and employment rates. These cuts could be detrimental to all-around community well-being.” 

Cuts to SNAP and school lunch programs would also put additional strain on food banks that are already struggling to keep up with heightened need in King County. Yamila Sterling, Solid Ground’s Food Access & Education Director, says she recently heard from a Seattle food bank that’s already seeing triple the number of monthly visits compared to averages before COVID. Another food bank reported having over 50 households on their waitlist every single month, even after innovations like home delivery programs for those who can’t physically make it to the food bank.    

“We want to ensure that everyone has access to nutritious food, so they can properly thrive,” Yamila says. “SNAP is a safety net that people rely on to work towards thriving. These cuts would mean forcing people to choose between food or shelter or paying their bills.” 

Cuts to SNAP would be particularly devastating for people with chronic health conditions, especially those who may face losing their Medicaid coverage at the same time. Solid Ground’s Paul Park says food assistance programs like SNAP are critical for people with conditions like heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension. 

“SNAP allows many people to afford the fresh fruits and vegetables that are critical to treat health conditions like these, and that also tend to cost more,” he says. “Without SNAP, these patients will be forced to buy what they can afford, which tends to be high-carbohydrate and processed foods.” 

Take action today! 

In the end, the U.S. House’s proposed cuts to Medicaid and food assistance would simply make it more difficult – and even impossible – for many of Washington state’s low-income residents to meet their basic needs. Families will have to make difficult decisions about paying for medical bills, groceries, or the rent, leading even more households to fall behind, lose their housing, and fall deeper into the cycle of poverty.  

As of now, these cuts are just a proposal. The resolution passed by the House of Representatives still needs to make it through the Senate before lawmakers can even begin to write the actual legislation that would make it a reality. The legislation must also be approved by both chambers of Congress before it makes it to the president’s desk. This process means that there’s still time for us to prevent the harm these proposed cuts would cause to our communities.  

Your legislators need to hear from you! Send an email to your officials today:  

References

1 & 2) February 27, 2025: Senator Murray Raises Alarm Over Looming Republican Cuts to Medicaid, with Health Care Workers in Central and Eastern WA

3) February 2025 Snapshot: Medicaid Cuts Threaten WA Health Care, Especially In Rural Areas, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Washington State 

4) October 2024: Foundational Community Supports (FCS), Washington State Health Care Authority  

Image at top: A member of the Solid Ground Food System Support team delivers food to the U District Food Bank. Programs like these will come under incredible strain if proposed cuts to SNAP are approved (image by Michael B. Maine).