Part 1: One Big Beautiful Bill Means Cuts to Rural Hospitals

Today we begin a two part series on the recent cuts to rural health care funding under the one big, beautiful bill. Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, explains why these cuts could have a devastating impact on rural communities.

“Rural hospitals, what they do is they treat a population in these small towns, you've got a higher percentage of elderly people, and you've got a higher percentage of low-income people with high health needs. And because of that, these small town hospitals and Docs- they are really reliant on the insurance companies, and in this case, Medicare and Medicaid, so they have to be good partners to keep these doors open, and what this legislation does is specific, to rule it cuts out $155 billion over the next 10 years.:

Morgan points out that despite what many assume, these cuts are not to Medicaid for low income patients, instead, the payments go directly to doctors and hospitals facilities that are already struggling to keep their doors open.

“You still have low-income people in small towns that need health care. They're still going to go to health care. It just means that now the hospitals and doctors have to pick up the bill because the government's not paying for it, and what happens then is these small town hospitals close, and then it becomes a problem for all of us, right?”

Once again, that was Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association.