Rural communities prepare for Medicaid cuts to hit hospitals
Source: USA Today
Aug. 24, 2025, 5:03 a.m. ET
Penny Blue was walking up the stairs of her Union Hall, Va. home in 2013 when a blood vessel burst in her brain. "I actually felt the pop in my head when it happened," she told USA TODAY. After sitting down and calling an ambulance she was quickly on her way to the closest hospital 15 minutes away, where she was stabilized. She was flown by helicopter to Roanoke Memorial hospital and remained in intensive care there for 13 days. If the same thing happened again, Blue might not be so lucky.
If the rural hospital down the road were to close, the closest hospital would be at least an hour away in Roanoke. The 65-year-old said she has looked at the statistics of what her chances of survival and quality of life would be if she had to go that far. They aren't good. "Time, minutes and seconds, make a difference whether you live or die and your recovery, if you live, the quality of your life," Blue said.
Her concerns are not idle. Rural hospitals like the one near her were already struggling financially before President Donald Trump took office in January. But the GOP tax and spending bill signed into law July 4 has made their problems far worse, hospital executives and health care experts say, and will likely speed up closures nationwide.
Penny Blue of Union Hall, Va. had a aneurysm in 2013 and was able to make it to a nearby rural hospital, which was able to stabilize her before sending her to a larger hospital where she spent 13 days in the ICE.
Trump has said he's only cutting "waste, fraud and abuse" from Medicaid, the government insurance program for older people and those with disabilities. But those cuts will force states to make up the funding gap at a time when they are already strapped for cash or allow their rural hospitals to close.
'New Name, Still Cuts Medicaid': GOP Attempts Rebrand of Healthcare-Slashing Budget Bill Amid Dismal Polls By Brad Reed
September 3, 2025
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) The Republican Party's massive budget law has shown itself to be decidedly unpopular with voters, as polls consistently show Americans opposed to its $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid.
Because of this, reported Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman, US President Donald Trump met with GOP members of Congress on Wednesday morning to discuss how to boost the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act's popularity.
According to Sherman, Trump's message to the GOP is that the bill will become popular if "they completely rebrand it and talk about it differently."
Politico similarly reported that Republicans in Congress have been eager to rebrand the bill after enduring "a spate of angry crowds at... town halls and alarming polling that shows dismal views of the bill's safety-net cuts and deficit impact."
As Common Dreams reported last month, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) faced angry constituents who yelled, "You cut our healthcare!" and called him a liar when he claimed the Medicaid cuts would improve healthcare services. Other Republicans have been confronted with similar outrage at town halls.
UnitedHealthcare, other insurers to scale back Medicare Advantage plans
Source: Yahoo! News/KMSP-TV Minneapolis
Wed, October 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM EDT
(FOX 9) - UnitedHealth said on Wednesday that it plans to withdraw Medicare Advantage coverage from nearly four dozen Minnesota counties, a move it blamed on Medicare funding cuts.
UnitedHealth to stop offering Medicare Advantage plans in parts of Minnesota
What we know
Eden Prairie-based UnitedHealth said it plans to reduce its Medicare Advantage footprint from 72 to 27 counties. It said the decision would affect about 20% of its Medicare Advantage subscribers statewide. The insurer said the impacts will disproportionately impact southern Minnesota but did not specify why.
The reason
UnitedHealth blamed the decision on "funding pressures," specifically federal funding cuts to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
What are the options
Medicare Advantage plan subscribers who lose their coverage will automatically be covered under Original Medicare. But that program does not include prescription drug coverage or other additional benefits that come with Medicare Advantage plans. If a current subscriber wants to find another Medicare Advantage plan, they can do so online or with the help of an agent.
Texas Removes More Than 1 in 4 Children From Health Care Plan
Source: Newsweek
Oct 02, 2025 at 06:55 AM EDT updated Oct 02, 2025 at 10:13 AM EDT
More than 1 million children in Texas have been rolled off the state's Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) over the course of just over two years, according to data from KFF, a nonprofit health policy research and news organization. Child enrollment in Medicaid/CHIP in the state decreased by 27 percent, equating to just over one in four children, between March 2023 and June 2025, as part of the unwinding process happening nationwide after Medicaid coverage was expanded following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) told Newsweek it was "committed to ensuring that those qualified for benefits receive them." HHSC said it worked closely with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) throughout the pandemic and the Medicaid unwind process. "Redetermining eligibility within federal requirements was a massive undertaking," the commission added.
Why It Matters
The unwinding process has resulted in significant drops in Medicaid enrollment across the U.S., and with millions more Americans expected to lose coverage following the passage of President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts.
After a new study highlighted that the majority of American children rely on Medicaid and CHIP in the first 18 years of their life, more concern has been raised about what higher uninsured rates among children means for their health outcomes long-term.
Trump plan will limit disability benefits for older Americans
Source: Washington Post
October 5, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
The Trump administration is preparing a plan that will make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security disability payments, part of an overhaul of the federal safety net for poor, older and disabled people that could result in hundreds of thousands of people losing benefits, according to people familiar with the plans.
Currently, the Social Security Administration evaluates disability claims by considering age, work experience and education to determine if a person can adjust to other types of work. Older applicants, typically over 50, have a better chance of qualifying because age is treated as a limitation in adapting to many jobs.
But now officials are considering eliminating age as a factor entirely or raising the threshold to age 60, according to three people familiar with the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions. They also plan to modernize labor market data used to judge whether claimants can work, replacing an outdated jobs database that includes obsolete occupations like nut sorters and telephone quotation clerks, following a Washington Post investigation in 2022.
It is unclear exactly how many Americans could lose access to disability benefits under the proposed rule changes. Jack Smalligan, senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute and a former Office of Management and Budget official through five administrations, wrote in a recent paper that if the proposed rule reduced eligibility for the disability program by 10 percent, 750,000 fewer people would receive benefits for all or part of the next decade. In addition, 80,000 fewer widows and children would receive benefits due to the loss in eligibility of a spouse or parent.
Idaho retirees shocked their $51 health plan will now cost $2,232 a month -- beg GOP senator to save the ACA subsidies
Ruby red Idaho.
That decision is at the heart of the government shutdown fight on Capitol Hill, with Democrats saying Republicans must agree to keep in place the enhanced subsidies, first introduced in 2021, before they’ll vote to reopen the government. Without the tax credits, average out-of-pocket premiums are expected to rise by $1,200 a year in Idaho, a 75% increase, according to state health officials.
Average Obamacare premiums are set to rise 30 percent, documents show
Source: Washington Post
The price increases — affecting up to 17 million Americans who buy coverage on the federal marketplace — are by far the largest annual premium increases in recent years.
Premiums for the most popular types of plans sold on the federal health insurance marketplace Healthcare.gov will spike on average by 30 percent next year, according to final rates approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and shown in documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
The rise in prices — affecting up to 17 million Americans who buy coverage on the federal marketplace — are by far the largest annual premium increases in recent years. The higher premiums, along with the likely expiration of pandemic-era subsidies, mean millions of people will see their health insurance payments double or even triple in 2026.
The premium spikes arrive during a protracted and bitter congressional battle over health insurance costs that prompted a government shutdown since Oct. 1. Democrats have urged an extension of enhanced subsidies for plans sold through the Affordable Care Act to soften the blow of rising insurance costs, while Republicans have said the additional assistance was never meant to be permanent.
The spike in premiums will become visible to more Americans on Monday when the Trump administration is expected to open Healthcare.gov for window shopping to browse the price of plans ahead of the Nov. 1 start to open enrollment. A spokesman for CMS did not immediately return a request for comment.
75% of U.S. Voters Are Concerned About Surging Healthcare Premiums By Jessica Corbett
October 25, 2025
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Twenty-four days into the second-longest government shutdown in US history, yet another poll revealed a rising majority of voters across the political spectrum are concerned about skyrocketing health insurance premiums.
Data for Progress and Groundwork Collaborative surveyed 1,215 likely voters nationwide on Wednesday and Thursday. Results released Friday show that 75% of likely voters—including 83% of Democrats, 72% of Independents, and 69% of Republicans—are concerned about premiums soaring. That is an increase from 72% of respondents who expressed concern last week.
The new survey also shows that 56% of voters—including 85% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 23% of Republicans—don’t believe GOP President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are focused on “lower healthcare costs” for people like them and their families.
The pollsters further found that a plurality of voters continue to blame the president and GOP lawmakers the most for the shutdown, in line with Data for Progress and Groundwork Collaborative’s findings from last week.
The new findings track with not only the groups’ previous poll but also a survey released earlier this week by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research—which found that 6 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” worried about their healthcare costs going up over the next year.
Without Medicaid, Many Rural Americans Will Die By Marcia Dinkens
November 13, 2025
Introduction:
(Other Words) This summer, Congress and President Trump cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid to help offset the cost of tax cuts for billionaires. Those Medicaid cuts are scheduled to start kicking in after next year’s midterms, so it’s time for everyone to start understanding the life and death consequences now.
This year, my adult daughter in rural Michigan was hospitalized multiple times with a raging infection of her pancreas, spleen, and gallbladder. Surgery saved my daughter’s life. And that surgery was possible because of Medicaid.
As a parent and grandparent, I do everything possible to protect the health and safety of my loved ones — just like you do. That doesn’t just mean taking care of things around the house or getting them to the doctor — it can also mean fighting against the policies that make people sick or deny them care.
When my kids were young, poor air quality and environmental hazards caused our family physical, mental, and financial anguish. Now my three adult children have serious medical issues, including seizures and pulmonary embolisms.
Millions of other Americans have health issues like these — and their lives will be at risk if they lose Medicaid coverage.
Bishop Barber Eulogizes Tens of Thousands of Americans Who Will Die Because of GOP Healthcare Cuts By Julia Conley
November 24, 2025
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Surrounded by cardboard “tombstones” that displayed likely causes of death of thousands of people in the United States under Republican policies, Bishop William J. Barber II on Monday gave a eulogy in Raleigh, North Carolina, honoring those who are being directly targeted by the Trump administration’s cuts to healthcare, public health funding, and other essential government programs.
The word “eulogy,” he said, comes from the Greek word “eulogia,” and means “good words.”
“But the question is, what is the ‘good word’ when people shouldn’t be dead?” asked the president of the grassroots group Repairers of the Breach and the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, adding that the people he was speaking about are projected to die in the coming year solely due to “policy violence.”
“We will not let them die ignored,” said Barber. “We will not let their deaths go unregistered on the conscience of this nation and this state, and among the people.”
Barber spoke at the flagship event of Repairers of the Breach’s regular Moral Mondays prayer protest, while supporters in more than 15 states including Alabama, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas also delivered eulogies for those who are expected to die as a result of the $186 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, and funding slashed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that was passed in July.
As Millions of Americans Face a Steep Rise in Health Insurance Costs, Lawmakers Continue a Century-long Battle Over who Should Pay for Health Care By Robert Applebaum
December 19, 2025
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Dec. 15, 2025 – the deadline for enrolling in a marketplace plan through the Affordable Care Act for 2026 – came and went without an agreement on the federal subsidies that kept ACA plans more affordable for many Americans. Despite a last-ditch attempt in the House to extend ACA subsidies, with Congress adjourning for the year on Dec. 19, it’s looking almost certain that Americans relying on ACA subsidies will face a steep increase in health care costs in 2026.
Additional Extract:
…many ACA marketplace users could see their health insurance cost rise more than 100%. Some proponents of extending COVID-19-era subsidies contend that the rollback will result in an estimated 6 million to 7 million people leaving the ACA marketplace and that some 5 million of these Americans could become uninsured in 2026.
