Protect Our Care and Rural Forward are today releasing a new report, “A Tough Row to Hoe: How Republican Policies are Leaving Rural Health Care in the Dust.” The report examines how Republican attacks on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act are wreaking havoc in rural communities, where hospital closures are threatening access to care and local economies.
“This report shows how the relentless war on health care being waged by President Trump and Republicans in Congress is reversing recent gains in rural coverage, raising premiums, and threatening key components of the rural health care system, especially rural hospitals,” said Brad Woodhouse, Protect Our Care Campaign Director.
“Rural communities have a lot to lose if President Trump and Republicans in Congress keep undermining Medicaid and pushing their repeal and sabotage agenda. Almost 90% of rural hospitals that have closed since the Affordable Care Act were in states that refused to expand Medicaid,” said John Whitaker, Executive Director, Rural Forward.
This morning, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Congressman Donald McEachin (VA-04) join Protect Our Care and Rural Forward at a Capitol Hill press conference to launch the new report.