UK president warns of ‘difficult decisions’ due to Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill
The University of Kentucky issued a new warning about “significant” impacts on UK HealthCare services and higher education following President Donald Trump’s signing of his “big, beautiful bill” into law Friday.
In a message to students and staff Monday, UK President Eli Capilouto said the university is “still analyzing and understanding” the specifics of the spending package, but knows it “represents an important challenge to our entire university and especially our health care system.”
“It is clear that over time we will be confronted with financial challenges and difficult decisions,” he wrote. “We will need to think about new strategies to meet this moment, create more efficient operations to fund our work and develop and enhance more partnerships to advance our efforts.”
“What is also clear is this: Our mission hasn’t changed,” Capilouto continued. “We exist to advance this state — its health, its education and its economy.”
Medicaid payments for hospitals will be reduced by 10% annually starting in 2028, when the proposed budget cuts are enacted, Capilouto said.
That means funding for treating patients will be reduced “to levels far below our cost for providing the advanced, specialty care that only we offer,” he said.
“Reductions in funding can also significantly impact our efforts to extend access — particularly among rural populations that make up so much of our patient base — and for preventive services and primary care,” Capilouto said.
Estimates show the bill could result in 11.8 million people losing health insurance coverage nationwide. People who live in rural areas are most likely to be at greater risk of losing Medicaid coverage, potentially affecting nearly 1 in 5 Americans.
The package also includes cuts to SNAP-Ed, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — Education, a federally funded program that provides nutrition education to low-income residents.
UK’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment oversees SNAP-Ed program in Kentucky through the Cooperative Extension offices, an extension agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. CAFE Dean Laura Stephenson is expected to discuss the matter with her team in the coming days to evaluate the proposed changes.
Another way Trump’s spending bill will affect higher education is by imposing restrictions on how much money graduate students can borrow from the federal government.
Under the new bill, students are no longer permitted to borrow more than $200,000 for medical, doctoral and professional degrees and cannot take out more than $100,000 for a master’s.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the changes to student loans will save more than $300 billion over ten years, but will make college less affordable.
Regarding federal student loans and grants, UK said it is still analyzing the legislative package to assist students and families who can be directly affected by it.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 4:45 AM.
