Health Care — Memo pushes back on bill's impact to rural hospitals

Click in for more news from The Hill

View Online Health Care Health Care The Big Story  White House memo seeks to fight back on impact to rural hospitals The White House is working to counter the narrative that rural hospitals will suffer because of President Trump's "big, beautiful" tax cut law.  © Adobe Stock A new memo shared first with The Hill argues the law "contains unprecedented levels of federal assistance to rural and other vulnerable hospitals" through its five-year, $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program.    The administration notes that Medicaid has historically invested very little in rural hospitals. According to figures from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicaid spent just $19 billion on rural hospitals in 2024. The rural health fund will provide an additional $10 billion each year from 2026 through 2030. But it ends after 2030, with no phaseout period.    The memo argues the fund is a "flexible" source of investment because it's not tied directly to reimbursement for services.    Indeed, as experts have noted, the fund will not make direct payments to rural hospitals. Instead, the money will go to states, which will need to first file detailed "rural health transformation plans" and get approval from CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz.    The law gives Oz broad discretion on what he can approve, and there is no specific requirement for states to direct funds to rural hospitals or CMS to approve only funding for rural districts.     States also need to make funding decisions quickly, as the federal government can claw back unobligated money before the program ends.    The new law cuts about $1 trillion from Medicaid, primarily through stringent work requirements as well as reductions to how states can fund their Medicaid programs through provider taxes and state-directed payments.     Rural hospitals rely heavily on Medicaid funding because many of the patients they care for are low income. But the administration noted that rural hospitals only account for 7 percent of overall Medicaid spending.    According to a KFF analysis, federal Medicaid spending in rural areas is estimated to decline by $155 billion over a decade because of the law.   Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Missouri AG sues Planned Parenthood for allegedly lying about dangers of abortion drugs Missouri is suing Planned Parenthood for allegedly lying to patients about the risks of the abortion medication mifepristone.   Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Jefferson City arguing that Planned Parenthood's claims that the abortion drug is safer than many other medications including penicillin and Tylenol are untrue and violate the state's consumer-protection law.   Bailey …  Full Story RFK Jr. signs recommendation to remove thimerosal from flu vaccines The federal government is recommending flu vaccines remove the preservative thimerosal after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday officially adopted the recommendation of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel.  The move follows a 5-1-1 vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice during its June meeting. The meeting was the first for the newly …  Full Story Eating eggs weekly may lower Alzheimer's risk by nearly 50 percent: Study A new study suggests diets including eggs, especially the yolk, may help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Published in The Journal of Nutrition, the study followed more than 1,000 U.S. adults and found that those who consumed more than one egg weekly had a 47 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer's. Over an average follow-up of 6.7 years, 280 participants, or 27.3 percent, were diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia. …  Full Story In Other News  Branch out with a different read: Paul urges DOJ to charge Fauci to test pardon Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is calling on the Justice Department (DOJ) to charge former senior national health adviser Anthony Fauci with lying to Congress to test whether former President Biden's pardon of Fauci will hold up in court. "I do believe Anthony Fauci committed a felony by lying to Congress," Paul told pro-President Trump activist Charlie Kirk in an interview when … Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: Kentucky's campaign to improve rural cancer care is a national model. Federal cuts threaten its progress (Stat)  Planned Parenthood of California loses $300 million in federal funding under court order (Cal Matters)  Patient dies of brain-eating amoeba in South Carolina, hospital confirms (CBS)  What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Are there 5 million nondisabled Medicaid recipients watching TV all day? That's unsupported (KFF Health News)  Summer COVID cases are rising across the U.S.--is it time for a vaccine? (NBC)  U.S. quietly drafts plan to end program that saved millions from AIDS (The New York Times)  What People Think  Opinion related to health submitted to The Hill: The FDA must be modernized for the era of personalized medicine   You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001 Copyright © 1998 - 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please safely unsubscribe.