Rural communities prepare for Medicaid cuts to hit hospitals

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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.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/24/rural-america-braces-for-hospital-closures-after-medicaid-cuts/85723643007/