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Hawley Introduces Legislation to Prevent Future Medicaid Cuts, Invest in Rural Hospitals [1]

['Bernadette Breslin']

Date: 2025-07-15 16:23:58+00:00

Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced new legislation to invest in rural hospitals and prevent any future cuts to Medicaid hospital funding. Senator Hawley’s legislation builds on provisions he secured for rural hospitals in the recently enacted reconciliation bill. Senator Hawley’s new bill would double the federal investment in rural health care while reversing future changes to Medicaid hospital funding.



At Senator Hawley’s behest, the reconciliation bill created for the first time a rural hospital fund. But Congressional leadership also scheduled reductions in states’ provider tax authority to begin in some states as early as 2028. States levy provider taxes to finance a portion of their Medicaid costs, allowing them to access federal Medicaid funds for critical-access hospitals and rural providers.



“President Trump has always said we have to protect Medicaid for working people. Now is the time to prevent any future cuts to Medicaid from going into effect,” Senator Hawley said. “We should also increase our support for rural hospitals around the country. Under the recent reconciliation bill, Missouri will see an extra $1 billion for hospitals over the next four years. I want to see Medicaid reductions stopped and rural hospitals fully funded permanently.”

Senator Hawley’s Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act would:

Repeal the provider tax moratorium and the future reduction of provider tax authority in the reconciliation bill. This would restore a key aspect of Medicaid funding that states rely on to finance their programs.





Repeal provisions in the reconciliation bill related to state directed payments that could reduce Medicaid reimbursements.





Double the total investment in the Rural Health Transformation Fund to $100 billion.





Extend the life of the Rural Health Transformation Fund from five years to ten years.

Read the full bill text here.

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[1] Url: https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-introduces-legislation-to-prevent-future-medicaid-cuts-invest-in-rural-hospitals/

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