Next week marks the start of National Recovery Month and across the country, millions of Americans struggling with mental health and substance use disorders are paying the price for Donald Trump and Republicans’ massive cuts to health care. They cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to fund tax breaks for billionaires, stripping away the very lifeline these families rely on for care. Millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds struggle with mental health and substance use disorder. As of 2023, nearly 6 million teens and over 84 million adults experienced depression or substance use disorder. Medicaid provided coverage for over 22 million of these adults and nearly 2.5 million of these children. Now, people are losing access to lifesaving treatment, hospitals and clinics are shutting down, and costs are skyrocketing.
Protect Our Care’s “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” campaign — including “GOP Hot Seat Summer” — is bringing the fight right to Republican lawmakers’ doorsteps by holding empty-chair town halls, organizing petition drop-offs, hosting accountability events, and highlighting stories from Americans harmed by Republicans’ devastating health care cuts. Families across the country are sick of being asked to pay more, travel farther, and settle for less — and they’re making sure their lawmakers hear about it.
Americans Rely on Medicaid for Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment. Medicaid pays for over half of medication-assisted treatment, outpatient treatment, and peer support services for substance use disorder in the country. In 2024 prior to the passage of H.R. 1, overdose deaths fell by 27 percent thanks to better access to care. Rather than helping Americans who are struggling with substance use disorder, Trump and Republicans cut $1 trillion from the program that ensures that half of all adults with opioid use disorder have access to treatment. Republicans’ health care cuts will cause an estimated 1.6 million Medicaid recipients who received treatments for substance use disorder to go uninsured. Analysis by the University of Pennsylvania estimates that GOP Medicaid cuts will cut 156,000 Americans off from opioid use disorder treatment, double overdose rates among the group, and lead to 1,000 additional fatalities each year.
Republicans’ Red Tape Is Ripping Lifesaving Treatment Away From Americans Struggling With Mental Health Issues. The majority of people with mental health or substance use disorders who rely on Medicaid are covered through Medicaid expansion, a pathway that is being directly targeted by Republicans to throw Americans off their coverage in order to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. 59 percent of people on Medicaid with substance use disorder qualify through Medicaid expansion; 51 percent of people on Medicaid with mental health disorders qualify through Medicaid expansion. Now, millions of Americans struggling with debilitating mental health conditions will face mountains of paperwork designed to throw them off the health care they need to improve their condition and become employed. Republicans will say there are exemptions for “medical frailty” and “disabling” mental disorders, but since the bill does not define either, many Americans will be at the mercy of states empowered to cherry-pick who qualifies for coverage. Mental health conditions such as depression and severe anxiety can greatly affect someone’s ability to maintain employment, yet Republican red tape will likely cut countless people off from the health care they need to improve and maintain employment, leading to a spiral of declining mental health, lack of health care, and lack of financial security.
Trump and Republicans’ Health Care Cuts Put Lives of Those Suffering from Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder on the Line. Republicans’ Medicaid cuts are devastating treatment centers. Following the passage of H.R. 1, over 70 mental health and substance use disorder treatment centers, clinics, or wards have made cuts, closed, or are at risk of closing. As more treatment locations make cuts or close, it becomes difficult to get help as waitlists for openings grow long and treatment centers are far from home. Treatment centers are experiencing further funding issues with Trump’s cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Since the beginning of Trump’s second term in office, SAMHSA has lost $1.7 billion in block grants, cut roughly $350 million in addiction and overdose prevention funding, and over 400 employees have been laid off. The Trump administration has also gutted over $330 million from federal overdose prevention programs, devastating access to lifesaving medication such as naloxone. To make matters worse, the Trump administration canceled the use and distribution of drug test strips, a move experts say will kill people. Organizations like the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition have seen their grants completely canceled. As access to treatment continues to disappear, research has estimated that the overdose death rate will double. For Americans suffering from mental health and substance use disorder, these funding cuts aren’t just a failed cost saving measure, but will result in life or death consequences.
Meet the Americans Facing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder On Their Own Thanks to the GOP’s Health Care Cuts
In Lost Creek, West Virginia, Rebecca Powers relies on Medicaid to cover her mental health medication and addiction treatment. Now, thanks to Republican health care cuts, Powers is at risk of losing coverage all together. Without Medicaid, Powers says she will lose her job, lose her home, lose visits with her kids and experience a mental health crisis. “To be honest, that scares me to death,” she said. “I make $9 an hour, hardly enough to live.”
Ezra McKay of Memphis, Tennessee saw his ACA marketplace premiums rise from $15 per month to $550, thanks to Republicans’ failure to extend premium tax credits by the end of last year. McKay relies on his ACA coverage to pay for doctor’s appointments and medication for bipolar disorder. McKay is currently spending nearly half of his monthly salary as a bookseller on health insurance. But he doesn’t have another option, McKay says, “I would be in an extremely bad situation of having difficulty maintaining my job, maintaining my house, maybe even having a life-threatening situation, if I were to have a mental health crisis.”
Shawn Fife of Minnesota has relied on Medicaid for addiction treatment for years. Recently, Fife started a treatment program in St. Paul, Minnesota and he believes his life may finally be back on track. He worries if his Medicaid coverage is disrupted, he won’t be able to continue the program. “[Roots Wellness Center] is so much what I need,” Fife said. “All of this. Everything. All the support. Losing all of this would be really, really difficult.” Fife says changes to his routine could mean a total setback and lapsing back into addiction.
In Missoula, Montana, Tywon Pugh suffers from seizures making it difficult to maintain a job. In the past, Pugh’s wife helped keep the couple afloat, but unfortunately she passed in last year. Since then, Pugh has been homeless, facing alcohol addiction, and worsening seizures. Medicaid has helped Pugh pay for medication to keep the seizures at bay and would allow him to seek addiction treatment. However, thanks to H.R. 1, Pugh may lose his Medicaid coverage due to work requirements. “My Medicaid is still active, but when are they gonna cut that off from me?” Pugh said. “I can’t get employed. How am I supposed to survive?”