Hospitals would be hit hardest by Medicaid cuts in GOP tax bill, report finds
"$321 billion decrease in payments would fall heavily on both Democratic and Republican states
WASHINGTON — Hospitals would bear the brunt of federal health care funding cuts in the Republicans’ tax bill, and they’d be hurt hard in states with both predominantly Democratic- and Republican-led governments, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Republicans are using federal Medicaid funding cuts to pay for part of the cost of cutting taxes in budget reconciliation, a process that avoids the need for Democratic support. It’s long been assumed that those Medicaid cuts would weigh especially heavy on hospitals’ finances because they reduce the number of people with insurance, and hospitals can’t turn people away.
Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeepers projected that the bill would reduce federal spending by $797 billion over a decade and lead to nearly 11 million people becoming uninsured. But they didn’t parse out the impact on industry sectors. The Urban Institute report takes that extra step.
Medicaid provisions in the Republicans’ tax bill would, over 10 years, reduce Medicaid payments to hospitals by $321 billion, and hospitals would face a $63 billion increase in uncompensated care when the uninsured don’t pay their bills, according to the Urban report. The report says providers might hike costs for insured patients to make up for losses from uncompensated care costs.
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If not extended, about 5 million more people would lose insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Urban report estimates that would translate to an additional $103 billion loss to hospitals, a $39 billion cut to doctors, and a $50 billion reduction in spending on prescription drugs. Funding would be reduced by $70 billion for the combination of all other health care services."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/14/gop-tax-bill-medicaid-cuts-hospitals-doctors-urban-institute-robert-wood-johnson/
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