“Our Backs Are Up Against the Wall,” Said Louise McCarthy, President and CEO of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County.
The Trump-Republican health care crisis is wreaking havoc across the nation. After gutting Medicaid to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, over 750 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other critical providers have closed, are at risk of closing, or have been forced to cut essential services. In California, local advocates and clinics are pushing for new taxes as a Hail Mary to stay financially afloat — if they don’t succeed, Californian moms like Mia from Boyle Heights are at risk of losing access to the affordable maternal care they rely on. In Iowa, rural Americans are reeling from the loss of access to care after a local health clinic shuttered. In New Jersey, Jersey City residents are just days away from losing one of their only two emergency rooms. Now, nurses have been directed to call 911 to transport trauma patients if they arrive at a hospital with a closed emergency room.
All this chaos and mayhem has one common denominator — Trump and Republicans’ gutting of Medicaid. These cuts are forcing some states and local governments to raise taxes amid an affordability crisis fueled by the GOP’s health care policies. Rural health care is in free fall. Trauma patients are being shuffled from one hospital to another as providers are forced to reduce services. Come November, voters at the ballot box won’t forget that the GOP gambled with their lives to enrich billionaires and big corporations.
Recent National Coverage
U.S. Senate Finance Committee: Report: Republican Health Care Cuts Continue to Batter American Communities
KFF Health News: More Kids Are in ERs for Tooth Pain. Trump Cuts and RFK Jr.’s Anti-Fluoride Fight Aren’t Helping.
Axios: Hennepin Healthcare’s Crisis Is a Warning for Safety Net Hospitals
Radiology Business: RBMA Shares Concerns Over Major Medicaid Cut Impacts
Modern Health Care: Layoffs, Closures Tracker: New York System Plans to Cut Positions
California
San Francisco Chronicle: Contra Costa Voters Will Weigh Tax Increase to Counter Trump Cuts
Los Angeles Times: There Were 13 Full-Service Public Health Clinics in L.A. County. Now There Are 6
U.S. News & World Report: Reckoning With State and Federal Cuts, L.A. Safety-Net Clinics Push for a New Tax
Colorado
News3: Layoffs Hit Boulder City Hospital With Change in Provider Type
Iowa
KMA Land: Rural Iowa Health Clinic Closes Following Funding Cuts
Kentucky
WCLU: Graves Gilbert Clinic Cuts 20 Jobs, Restructures Glasgow Operations
Massachusetts
WBUR: Fear and Anxiety at Mass. Health Centers Amid Federal Funding Cuts
Minnesota
Minnesota Star-Tribune: Mayo Clinic’s Record Profit Leaves Mixed Feelings in the Wake of Med Giant’s Closures in Small Towns
Nebraska
KMTV: Maternity Care Access Declining, Rural Nebraska Hospitals Are Struggling to Keep Up
Nevada
Nevada Independent: Cortez Masto Blames Trump for Cuts to Nevada Hospital
New Hampshire
NHPR: Republican Lawmakers Want to Limit School Vaccine Clinics. Funding Cuts May Have Already Ended Them.
New Jersey
The Gothamist: Jersey City Is Losing 1 of Its 2 Emergency Rooms. Where Will Patients in Crisis Go?
New York
WWNY: Layoffs at St. Lawrence Co. Hospitals
Skilled Nursing News: ‘Code Red’: Chronic Underfunding Is Forcing State’s Nursing Homes to Close, Worsened by Medicaid Cuts, $2B Gap
North Carolina
Cardinal & Pine: Video: Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Will Make Patients Sicker, NC Nurse Says
Cardinal & Pine: Every Minute Counts: Rural NC Faces Longer Distances for Emergency Care
Cardinal & Pine: North Carolina Has a Shortage of Nurses. It’s Expected to Get a Lot Worse.
Ohio
Lancaster Eagle Gazette: FMC to Close River View Surgery Center and Sleep Medicine Office
Pennsylvania
Hoodline: Medicaid Axe Falls, Philly Planned Parenthood Clinics Left Reeling
City & State PA: The State’s ‘Maternity Deserts’ Are Reaching a Crisis Point as Rural Hospitals Continue to Close Childbirth Services
Philadelphia Inquirer: Pottstown Hospital Cited for Closing Its ICU 13 Days Ahead of Schedule
Washington
KREM: Ritzville City Councilmember Says Cuts to Local Hospital Will Cause a ‘Scramble’ for the Community