Alfredo Ortiz: Overlooked Details in a Big Beautiful Law

Some of the case for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is well known, from the positive effects of tax cuts for businesses and families to the strengthening of Medicaid for those who actually need it. Small businesses can now count on 100 percent immediate expensing for capital expenditures and R&D, while many workers can deduct tips and overtime pay, saving as much as several thousand dollars annually. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, average tipped workers will save $1,675 per year.

But these tax cuts and spending reforms are only part of the story. The law also includes several underreported provisions that address some of the nation’s biggest challenges, including education outcomes, college debt, and health-care costs.

The law helps students escape failing district schools and receive the quality education they deserve. It provides taxpayers with a dollar-for-dollar credit of up to $1,700 for donations made to education scholarship accounts that can fund private schooling alternatives.

This provision will fuel the education freedom revolution ongoing at the state level. In recent years, 17 states have enacted universal school choice, allowing funding to follow the student, not the system. In Florida, for example, robust education freedom scholarships allow most students to attend schools outside their zoned district. As the Sunshine State has expanded school choice, its education outcomes have improved significantly. It had the lowest high-school graduation rate in 1990; U.S. News and World Report ranked Florida’s K–12 system No. 1 in 2024.

The law also addresses the root cause of the student debt crisis. It implements federal lifetime loan limits of $100,000 and $65,000 for previously uncapped graduate student and ParentPLUS loans, respectively. These limits protect taxpayers and restore financial discipline and accountability to colleges nationwide.

For too long, the federal government has operated as a no-limit ATM for higher education, issuing loans with no underwriting and no price signals. The result has been predictable: tuition has doubled in real terms over the last couple of decades, as colleges and universities know that the federal government will be underwriting much of the bill.

Meanwhile, borrowers are left with over $1.8 trillion in student debt, often for degrees that fail to deliver a real return on investment. In contrast to the approach adopted by the previous administration of forgiving college debt (or trying to), which would only exacerbate the problem by rewarding colleges’ egregious tuition practices, the BBB helps fix the underlying problem.

Finally, the law empowers Americans to reduce inflated health-care costs by expanding health savings accounts. HSAs are tax-free accounts that enable consumers to pay for care directly, often at steep discounts to the bloated, insurance-industry-dominated status quo. For instance, an MRI at a cash-based imaging center can be purchased for a few hundred dollars, compared to a few thousand dollars at the local hospital through insurance.

For too long, HSAs have had complicated restrictions that limit their usefulness. The BBB expands HSA eligibility to more people, including those enrolled in lower-cost catastrophic plans. And it broadens the list of eligible expenses to include direct primary care and telehealth services.

Small businesses, which often can’t afford comprehensive group plans, are huge winners. They now have a new attractive and affordable coverage option: pairing inexpensive catastrophic coverage reimbursements with HSA contributions to fund direct primary care. High-turnover, part-time, and gig workers can also use this coverage combination.

These overlooked BBB provisions reduce the state’s role in education and health care, lowering costs and improving outcomes in sectors known for rising costs and consumer unfriendliness. They may not garner the same attention as the tax cuts or Medicaid reforms, but their consequences ought to be big — and beautiful.