ICYMI: Medicaid Cuts Could Have Big Consequences for Rural Hospitals

ICYMI: Medicaid Cuts Could Have Big Consequences for Rural Hospitals

July 22, 2025

Columbus, Ohio- In case you missed it, reporting from WOSU highlighted the disastrous consequences rural hospitals are facing after Republicans voted to cut Medicaid in their billionaire-first budget reconciliation bill. While billionaires get tax cuts, Ohioans in rural areas are at risk of losing access to critical healthcare in their communities.

Republicans didn't stop at ripping away healthcare from rural Ohioans. Cuts to food assistance are projected to hit rural counties the hardest, especially in Southern Ohio. Instead of fighting to keep Ohio's rural communities healthy, all Republican Members of Congress voted for this legislation that will harm their constituents.

READ MORE about how rural Ohio is at risk of losing critical healthcare below:

WOSU Public Media : Medicaid cuts could have big consequences for rural hospitals

• Medicaid, a $900 billion state and federal health insurance program, covers low-income and disabled people.[…]. About 20% of patients who visit hospitals in Ohio use Medicaid, according to the Ohio Hospitals Association (OHA), which represents all of Ohio's more than 250 hospitals.

• Because of the cuts, 11 of Ohio's rural hospitals are considered "at-risk" of closing or reducing services, according to the Sheps Center for Health Services, a research center in North Carolina.

• The rural hospitals on the list either have been operating at a deficit for three straight years or are among the top rural providers for Medicaid patients across the country.[…] Most of the Ohio hospitals on the list fall under the category of top Medicaid providers.

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