Headlines From National Outlets and 21 States
It’s a new year, but rural health care still faces the same bitter headwinds from last year’s Trump-GOP Medicaid cuts. While billionaires and big corporations stuff their wallets with $1 trillion in Republican tax giveaways, rural families are finding fewer health care providers to help them when they need it most. Pediatric care options are shrinking, putting children at risk. Birth centers are closing, leaving expectant mothers with nowhere to turn. And as nursing home staffing declines, parents and grandparents are left vulnerable to life-endangering neglect. The GOP rural health pity fund has come nowhere near to replacing the billions of dollars Republicans ripped away from rural health systems in their budget bill. Over 600 providers across the country are now facing closure or cutting services because Trump and his cronies in Congress put billionaires over working people’s health care.
Recent National Headlines
Stateline: Freestanding Birth Centers Are Closing as Maternity Care Gaps Grow
Medscape: Hospital Mergers and Medicaid Cuts Thin Pediatric Inpatient Care
HealthLeaders: OBBBA Could Cut $69B From Hospital Revenue Over Next 2 Years
New York Times: The Planned Parenthood Closed. A Christian Clinic Seized the Moment.
ABC News: Appeals Court Says Medicaid Funding Cuts for Planned Parenthood Can Stand While Lawsuit Proceeds
Alabama
Montgomery Advertiser: Jackson Hospital’s Future Unclear After County Withholds Extra Funds
Arizona
AZ Mirror: Medicaid Cuts Backed by Juan Ciscomani Will Cost Southern Arizona Hospitals $110 M Every Year
California
San Diego Union-Tribune: Providers Brace for Medi-Cal Cuts: ‘We May Not Be Able to Serve Everybody’
San Jose Spotlight: Santa Clara County Nurses Say Furloughs Hinder Patient Care
Alameda Post: Alameda Health System to Lay Off Almost 300 After Massive Medicaid Cuts
Mercury News: Alameda County Hospital System Lays off Hundreds of Employees to Counter Federal Cuts
Connecticut
CT Insider: Federal Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP Could Result in Job Loss in Connecticut, Economists Warn
Florida
Pine Island Eagle: Are You Ready for the Coming Cuts to Medicaid?
Kansas
Beacon News: Why 30 Hospitals in Kansas and 12 in Missouri Are at Risk of Closure
Wichita Business Journal: Derby’s Rock Regional Hospital Tells Employees It Will Close Wednesday Morning
KAKE: Derby’s Rock Regional Hospital Closes Permanently
Kentucky
Louisville Courier Journal: Budget, Funding Cuts to Take Center Stage in KY Legislative Session
Maine
WHOM: Patients in Gray Face Uncertainty as Clinic Announces Unexpected Closure
B98.5: Maine Healthcare Center Announces Permanent Closure
Massachusetts
Mass Live: Baystate Health Warns of $146M Yearly Hit to Its Finances of Trump Policy Bill
Michigan
Bridge Michigan: Michigan Nursing Homes Have Few Staff, Little Training. Misery Can Follow
Minnesota
Minn Post: Millions v. Billions: New Health Funds in Rural Minnesota Are Welcome, but They Won’t Offset Medicaid Cuts
Missouri
KCUR: Missouri Wins $216 Million Federal Grant to Close Rural Health Gap, but Medicaid Cuts Loom
Beacon News: More Services at Central Missouri Hospital Fall Victim to Economic Pressures
Beacon News: In Kansas City’s Health Care Sector, 2025 Was a Nightmare. It May Be Worse in 2026
KMMO: Fayette, Howard County Prepare for New Year With One Less Medical Clinic
Nebraska
Flatwater Free Press: Nebraska Threw a ‘Lifeline’ to Rural Hospitals on the Brink. It’s Fraying.
New Hampshire
InDepth NH: Rural New Hampshire is Ground Zero for Republicans’ Medicaid Cuts
Business NH Magazine: Report Paints Grim Financial Picture for Some of the State’s Rural Hospitals
New Jersey
Healthcare Dive: New Jersey Healthcare Giant Poised to Acquire Another Hospital
New Mexico
KRQE: Nexus Health’s Closure at the End of January Leaves Healthcare Void in Santa Fe Community
North Carolina
Spectrum News 1: NC Requests $1 Billion From Federal Rural Health Fund, Says It Still Won’t Be Enough
Ohio
The Intelligencer: East Ohio Regional Hospital Closes Doors Again in Martins Ferry
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Warren County’s Only Hospital Maternity Unit Prepares to Close
Penn Live: ‘Devastated’: Thousands of Employees Were Laid off From Pa. Hospitals, Offices, More
Erie News Now: Staffing Shortage Prompts Closure of Maternity Unit at Warren General
Observer: Region’s Maternity Care Losses Mirror U.S. Trend
South Dakota
Dakota Free Press: Cuts to Medicaid and Medicare Outweigh New Rural Health Grants
Tennessee
Johnson City Press: 2025 Health Year in Review: COPA, Financial Troubles and Medicaid