Sullivan addresses the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’ denies cuts to Medicaid, SNAP

In the narrowest of margins, the Senate, on July 1, passed the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA),’ President Donald Trump’s massive budget bill. The final vote was 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaker.

Senator Dan Sullivan voted to pass the OBBBA, and in a press release, called the legislation “transformative” as it includes numerous provisions to unleash Alaska’s resource potential, deliver tax relief for families and small businesses, make the largest investment for the U.S. Coast Guard in history, secure the southern border and halt the flow of deadly fentanyl, strengthen Alaska’s health care and nutrition programs, protect Alaska’s most vulnerable communities, and achieve historic savings for future generations.

“This comprehensive legislation is the product of months of relentless, focused work on behalf of Alaskans—and it delivers significant wins for our state. I think it is safe to say, no state fared better from this bill,” said Senator Sullivan in a press release. “From Day One of these negotiations, which have been going on for months, I fought to ensure that Alaska wasn’t just included, but prioritized.”

During a press conference via telephone, the Senator reiterated his praise the bill, citing boost economic growth, the extension of 2017 tax cuts, providing for resource development, and support for the U.S. Coast Guard.

“I think it’s safe to say that no state fared better from this bill than our state, and I’m going to give you a couple of reasons why that’s the case,” he said during the press conference.

“This is a bill about growing our economy, and taking advantage of opportunities,” he said, later adding, “So this is going to be very big for jobs, really important for additional revenues for our state Legislature and state government because of this.”

He defended provisions to Medicaid and SNAP benefits, saying that instead the OBBBA would strengthen Alaska’s health care.

“Here’s the facts on the bill: It doesn’t touch Medicare, doesn’t touch Social Security, despite some of these false ads saying to the contrary. And the major reform in this bill is the Medicaid reform that centers around limitations and reductions in states’ use of what are called provider taxes and directed payments. States use that to enhance their federal Medicaid payments.”

Senator Sullivan said that Alaska is the only state that does not use provider taxes or state-directed payments, and that Medicaid programs and federal funds that the state does receive are not impacted by the provided tax reforms included in the OBBBA.

He also talked about legislation within the bill that addresses rural hospitals, saying that he worked in the hours leading up to the Senate passage of the bill to get additional funding for rural hospitals.

“Even as late as last night…I got a plus up last night to $50 billion in the legislation for rural hospitals, and rural health care that will go to states. There’s a flat rate that — how much that will go — it’s about $100 million a year. And in discussions with senior administration officials, I am very confident that the state of Alaska, contrary to some of the ads on TV that we’re focused on cutting Medicaid, will be getting at least about $200 million a year for the next five years, in addition to what we’ve already gotten in Medicaid.” He said that he believes it is a significant ‘plus-up’ that will go to the state, and can be utilized to address Medicaid-backlog challenges.

As for the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), the Senator said that the OBBBA has “common sense work reforms” that are both in the SNAP and the Medicaid provisions. “Some of you might be familiar with the Clinton-era welfare reforms that was a bipartisan work requirement during the Clinton administration. That was 30 hours a week, this is about a third less. It’s 20 hours a week, for able-bodied individuals who have no dependents, who are not disabled, who do not have mental health challenges, or are not seniors.” He said that within those requirements are ways in which those requirement provisions that take Alaska’s unique challenges with regard to the work requirements. “For example, all Alaska Natives are exempt from both work requirements on SNAP and Medicaid. That was something that I worked for hard in this bill. And then there are other provisions that, if you’re showing good-faith efforts to make these work requirements, you get extended periods. So those are important as well.”

When asked about the Medicaid work requirement, and how it could affect seasonal workers, which makes up a significant percentage of the workforce during the peak tourist and fishing seasons, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, especially seen in tourism, hospitality and seafood processing, Senator Sullivan said there is a broad exemption in terms of the work requirements, beyond the 20-hour requirement, that does not include people with dependents, the elderly, and disabled. “The work requirement is, it’s not just work – you can volunteer for 20 hours. You can go to training for 20 hours. So there’s a whole host of ways in which you can meet that.”

“We did make adjustments…for seasonal workers, and we also made adjustments — and these are things that Senator Murkowski and I got in — for areas of the state that have traditionally high unemployment. So to your question, we did make adjustments in that regard,” though he did not have the specific provision with him at the time of the conference.

And as to those who fear that the OBBBA Medicaid eligibility requirements could cause thousands of eligible Alaskans to lose access to Medicaid, Senator Sullivan said that it is kind of a cliff, but believes that Alaska won’t have a cliff in terms of people relying on Medicaid for their health care. “In terms of the backlog for Medicaid. I actually think this bill is going to help that. Again, we are not like other parts of the state, going to see any kind of dramatic reduction, any kind of reduction in our Medicaid federal dollars, because we don’t use provider taxes, and we don’t use state-directed payments, which is where all the reforms are for this bill. “I think that that is actually an opportunity for our state to undertake reforms to get at the backlog with a lot of that money. We’ve been talking to the governor and his team, and I think that they see that it’s an opportunity.

He did say that in regards to the work requirement, some people might choose not to either work, volunteer, go to school, or go to training for 20 hours a week, and if they choose not to do that, it’s possible that Medicaid for those individuals slipping. “But we don’t think that that’s going to be a high number. And those are really the only areas in which I could see a Medicaid slippage in the state, because we’re not losing funding. To the contrary, with the estimated $200 million plus, I think it’s being more than $200 million a year from this fund. The state’s going to have a lot of opportunities to make reforms to the program. It’ll make it more efficient and serviceable for the people.”