FACT SHEET: Medicaid and SNAP vs. $200b for War on Iran: State-by-State Impact

We couldn’t just restore the funds cut for Medicaid. We could expand coverage.

Reports indicate that the Pentagon will soon request $200 billion for its unjust, unpopular, and illegal war on Iran.

Even one dollar of additional funding for this war is too much. Last year’s H.R. 1 — the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” — cut Medicaid and SNAP and, at the same time, added $156 billion for the Pentagon and war, bringing the Pentagon budget to more than $1 trillion for the first time since World War II. 

Now, nearly half of Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities, and the U.S. attack on Iran is pushing gas prices higher. Because of H.R. 1 and other policies, more than 14 million people are at risk of losing health insurance, and 4 million people risk losing food assistance. New and cumbersome paperwork to meet “work requirements” means that even many people eligible under the new rules are likely to lose food assistance. 

Instead of prolonging this war — or enabling the next one — with more funds, Americans deserve a government that supports them when times are tough. 

Instead of spending $200 billion to continue the war on Iran, the United States could:

• Cover Medicaid for all 14 million people at risk of losing insurance, 
• AND cover SNAP for all of the 4 million people at risk of losing food assistance, including 3.5 million due to new work requirements for older people and caregivers, 
• AND expand Medicaid to an additional 10.3 million people. 

The cost of covering Medicaid and food assistance for those at-risk people totals $118 billion. That leaves $82 billion, enough to expand Medicaid by 10.3 million people — or to fund any other policy that would actually help people in need.

The table shows how each state’s taxpayer contribution for $200 billion could cover that state’s population at risk of losing insurance, and food assistance for the vast majority of those at risk. In 43 states and the District of Columbia, taxpayers’ share of $200 billion is more than enough to cover everyone at risk — with enough leftover to cover those at risk in every single state, and still expand programs to help people in need.

A table for congressional districts can be found here.

What every state’s share of the Pentagon’s $200 billion could cover instead