Season 1 of The Pitt took bold swings, confronting issues like gun violence, vaccine disinformation, and abortion. Now, HBO’s hit medical drama is ready to turn its lens on President Donald J. Trump and his “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The Pitt takes place inside the emergency department of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre, detailing the professional and personal struggles of doctors, nurses, and residents as they work a grueling 15-hour shift.
The first season, which premiered in 2024, received praise from both audiences and critics for its grounded realism and focus on issues impacting the medical field.
For Season 2, showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, producer John Wells, and star Noah Wyle are hoping to take the show down a similar path.
In an interview with Variety, the trio spoke on their decision to have Season 2’s storylines focus on the impact of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes cutting 12 percent of funding from Medicaid, a federal and state insurance program that helps cover medical costs for people with limited resources.
The show’s creative team made this decision after conducting hundreds of calls with medical professionals to get their perspectives on what they believe will be the greatest challenges hospitals will face moving forward.
“The Medicaid changes are going to have a significant impact, and you don’t have to take a political position to discuss what the impact is actually going to be,” Wells said.
He went on to note that this isn’t the first time the U.S. government pulled funding from healthcare.
“It was frankly—again, not trying to be political, but they were disastrous in the two states [Arkansas and Georgia] that tried it, and they backed out of it and stopped doing it. So, we have a lot of people to call on to ask what’s likely to happen,” he said.
The second season of The Pitt is set to premiere in January 2026 on HBO.
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