When the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed Congress, supporters like Rep. Steve Scalise and House Speaker Mike Johnson called it a victory for fiscal discipline. They praised it as a way to eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse” in programs like Medicaid. But for the people of Louisiana—especially the poor, the sick, and the elderly—it’s anything but beautiful.
It’s a death sentence.
Louisiana Will Be Hit the Hardest
The bill includes devastating cuts to Medicaid, the public insurance program that covers 1 in 3 Louisianans. According to recent projections, up to 317,000 residents could lose coverage—158,500 white people and 110,950 Black people, based on demographic modeling.
And here’s the kicker: Louisiana’s own Republican-led legislature asked Congress not to make these cuts. They knew the damage it would cause. Yet Scalise and Johnson—both from Louisiana—led the national charge to strip the program anyway.
The betrayal is staggering.
Who Really Uses Medicaid?
Let’s be clear about who benefits from Medicaid in Louisiana:
- Children make up nearly half of Medicaid enrollees
- Low-income working adults who don’t get employer insurance
- Seniors in nursing homes, where Medicaid pays for long-term care
- Disabled people who rely on daily health services
This isn’t some vague federal handout. It’s the program that pays for your grandmother’s memory care, your cousin’s insulin, your neighbor’s cancer screenings.
Cutting it isn’t just policy—it’s cruelty.
The Fraud Lie
Scalise and his allies claim the cuts will clean up “waste, fraud, and abuse.” But let’s get real: you cannot argue that over 158,000 white Louisianans and 110,000 Black Louisianans were all scamming the system.
These are parents working at Walmart and Waffle House, elderly folks in rural parishes, disabled veterans, and children on free school lunch. To label them as frauds is not only dishonest—it’s insulting.
The real fraud is pretending this bill is about fairness.
Follow the Money: Rich Get Richer
So where’s the money going?
The bill takes billions in savings from slashing Medicaid and redirects it to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations. It repeals capital gains taxes for high earners and increases estate tax thresholds. Hedge fund managers and Fortune 500 CEOs will benefit most.
Meanwhile, rural hospitals in places like Bogalusa, Ferriday, and St. Martinville will lose patients—and funding. Clinics will close. Pregnant women will go without prenatal care. Elderly residents will be discharged without home health support.
This isn’t just about economics. People will suffer. Some will die.
And all so billionaires can buy another yacht.
Poor Whites Sacrificed for Rich Whites
One of the most heartbreaking elements of this bill is the way it pits working-class white people against themselves. Many of the 158,500 white Louisianans projected to lose Medicaid are Trump supporters who believed he was fighting for them.
Instead, this bill proves what many of us already knew: it was never about the people. It was always about the money.
The rich white donor class just convinced poor white voters to help them rob the vault—and lock the door behind them.
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A State Already on the Brink
Louisiana has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. Our health outcomes are among the worst. Maternal mortality. Cancer death. Diabetes. All of it.
Medicaid is not just a safety net here—it’s a lifeline.
Cutting it during an affordability crisis, while redirecting the funds to America’s elite, is not conservative. It’s not reform. It’s exploitation.
The Big Ugly Truth
Trump may call it the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But in Louisiana, we know the truth.
- It’s a big betrayal.
- It’s a big mistake.
- And it’s going to hurt the very people who can least afford it.
When poor families—Black and white—lose their access to care, they won’t call this bill beautiful. They’ll call it what it is: an attack on their survival.
Let’s be clear: Medicaid wasn’t broken. The system wasn’t abused. The people weren’t cheating. But now they’ll pay—just so the wealthy can profit.
And Louisiana, once again, will bear the brunt of someone else’s greed.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu