(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Conservative CEO of rural hospital slams Medicaid cuts, inferring they will kill rural healthcare. [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-12
Kevin Stansbury, CEO of rural Lincoln Community Hospital and Care Center, clarifies that the hospital could not survive Medicaid cuts.
Conservative CEO of rural hospital slams Medicaid cuts
Watch Politics Done Right T.V. here.
x Embedded Content
Podcasts (Video — Audio)
Summary
Conservative hospital CEO Kevin Stansbury tells Morning Joe that proposed federal Medicaid caps championed by Donald Trump and congressional Republicans would bankrupt rural hospitals like his in Hugo, Colorado. Serving an area the size of Connecticut with just two residents per square mile, Lincoln Community Hospital relies on Medicaid to fund unprofitable but essential services such as primary care, long‑term care, home health, and ambulances. If those dollars disappear, patients would face 85‑mile drives to the next nearest facility—an untenable distance for farmers, ranchers, and seniors who already struggle with chronic disease.
Medicaid lifeline : More than one‑third of Lincoln Community Hospital’s revenue comes from Medicaid, without which basic operations would collapse.
: More than one‑third of Lincoln Community Hospital’s revenue comes from Medicaid, without which basic operations would collapse. Unprofitable necessities : Rural hospitals must provide loss‑making services—ambulance, home‑health, chronic‑care management—because private insurers and larger systems ignore thinly populated regions.
: Rural hospitals must provide loss‑making services—ambulance, home‑health, chronic‑care management—because private insurers and larger systems ignore thinly populated regions. Geographic isolation : If local facilities close, residents would have to travel roughly 85 miles to Denver or Colorado Springs for emergency or routine care.
: If local facilities close, residents would have to travel roughly 85 miles to Denver or Colorado Springs for emergency or routine care. State shortfall : Colorado, like most states, cannot replace lost federal dollars; block‑granting Medicaid would force immediate cuts to care.
: Colorado, like most states, cannot replace lost federal dollars; block‑granting Medicaid would force immediate cuts to care. Rural political paradox: Trump’s Medicaid cuts target the very red‑state voters who propelled him to power, exposing a gap between right‑wing rhetoric and real‑world health outcomes.
Stansbury’s testimony demolishes the conservative myth that slashing “big government” helps small‑town America; in reality, it endangers working families who grow the nation’s food and fuel. Progressives argue that health‑care equity starts with strengthening—not shrinking—Medicaid, expanding it to cover every rural resident, and ultimately moving toward a universal public system that treats health as a public good rather than a budget line.
The complete article is here on my Substack.
Viewers are encouraged to subscribe and join the conversation for more insightful commentary and to support progressive messages. Together, we can populate the internet with progressive messages that represent the true aspirations of most Americans.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/12/2321993/-Conservative-CEO-of-rural-hospital-slams-Medicaid-cuts-inferring-they-will-kill-rural-healthcare?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
