Washington, D.C.— According to reporting from Punchbowl, Senate Republicans are circulating a proposal for a $15 billion pity fund for rural hospitals. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the more than $400 billion in projected losses for hospitals in the next 10 years due to GOP proposed cuts to health care. The proposal comes as several Republican Senators express concern over the hospital closures their Big, Ugly Bill would cause. Even with this meager “fix,” hundreds of hospitals will close at the hands of Republicans, who are dead set on handing out trillions in tax breaks to the rich by passing the largest cuts to Medicaid in history. Read more in our latest report.
“This fund is a band-aid over a bullet hole,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “Senate Republicans are trying to provide themselves political cover for their wildly unpopular and dangerous bill, but the American people will know the truth. $15 billion for rural hospitals is no consolation prize after they pass a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Hospitals will still close, people will be left without care, and many will suffer and die. These Republican policies will kill people, and this fund won’t stop that hard truth.”