The Public Policy Lab recently hosted a Policy Roundtable discussion on the effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on public programs such as Medicaid, SNAP (formerly food stamps), education, and the tax code. The event was co-sponsored by the Master’s in Public Policy Program. The purpose of the event was to examine the details of the complex legislation. According to PPL Director Judith Levine, “When it comes to policy, the devil is really in the details. While it can be quite boring to read policy and get into the nitty-gritty of it, the details really, really, really matter.”

At the event panelists Alice Abreu (Beasley School of Law), Julia Hinckley (University of Pennsylvania), Eliza Kinsey (University of Pennsylvania) and Jennifer M. Johnson (College of Education and Human Development) discussed the ways the bill is anticipated to impact the various policies and programs as well as those who rely on them.

The speakers highlighted aspects of the law, including changes to eligibility, work requirements, and processes for obtaining and maintaining access to programs, even if one is eligible on paper.

Discussing Medicaid, Julia Hinckley said, “The metaphor I want you to think about is Medicaid as a house. The house still looks the same from the outside, but now the door is narrower, the hallways inside are much narrower, they’ve installed some trap doors, and some people may fall out the windows. The house looks the same but it’s much harder to get inside and to navigate once you do.”

The panelists also explored both the trickle-down effects of the policies on states, which are responsible for administering programs like SNAP and public education, and the uncertainty of how these effects will emerge over time. As Jennifer M. Johnson noted, “Unfortunately, we really don't know the implications of the bill, and we really don't know what that's going to look like specifically at places like Temple, which has demonstrated a commitment to equity and access and promoting student success in a particular kind of way.”