Latest news with #statepolicy
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Texas just gutted free speech on college campuses. Is your state next?
Laura Benitez is state policy manager and Jonathan Friedman is Sy Syms managing director for PEN America's U.S. free expression programs. As thousands of students return to college campuses this fall, they will find themselves stepping into an environment reshaped by political and ideological mandates. Across the country, state legislators have been racing to exert new influence over free expression in higher education. Now, Texas has surged to the forefront, closing its 2025 legislative session by passing two alarming laws that take effect Sept. 1.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
Why 1.5 Million New Yorkers Could Lose Health Insurance Under Trump Bill
President Trump's domestic policy law, which extends federal tax cuts and slashes the social safety net, is expected to have a seismic effect on health insurance and health care in New York, with more than one million people in the state losing benefits, experts say. In one key respect, the law's impact will be felt more keenly in New York than in any other state — and it has nothing to do with Medicaid. Instead, it is the result of an obscure federal funding mechanism that sends billions of dollars a year to New York and nothing to most states. That money, which started flowing as a result of the Affordable Care Act, will be reduced dramatically under the new law, beginning next year. That change is expected to leave more than 200,000 people statewide without insurance over the next two years. But in the long run, it could be eclipsed by other health care-related provisions in the law, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Mr. Trump signed on Friday. The law adds limits and reductions to Medicaid and other government health insurance programs. 'The only thing we're cutting is waste, fraud and abuse,' Mr. Trump has said. State estimates show that the law could eventually strip health insurance from 1.5 million people enrolled in Medicaid and other health coverage plans in New York, about 7.5 percent of the state population. Overall, the state could absorb a $10 billion hit annually because of the policy law. That reflects a combination of increased state expenditures and cuts in federal subsidies that support health insurance and health care for people with lower incomes. Those cuts will reduce revenue for hospitals, with some responding by charging higher prices to middle class and wealthy patients, who are covered by private insurance, according to the president of the hospital industry's main trade association in New York. Other hospitals might close. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
