Republicans just passed $1 trillion in health care cuts and are kicking roughly 15 million people off their health care; WA hospitals will lose $662 million in Medicaid revenue every year
Tri-City Herald: Trump spending cuts will slam Tri-Cities worse than most of WA. Here’s how
***WATCH FULL EVENT HERE; PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***
Pasco, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a press conference at Tri-Cities Community Health in Pasco with local health care CEOs and providers to call attention to how the massive cuts to Medicaid in Republicans’ reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, are a major blow to hospitals and community health centers in Central Washington and will undermine access to health care—especially in rural areas.
Joining Senator Murray to speak at the press conference were: Kristy Needham, CEO of Tri-Cities Community Health; Brian Gibbons, President and CEO of Astria Health; Nieves Gomez, CEO of Columbia Basin Health Association; Cynthia Flynn, Managing Partner at Columbia Birth Center; and Dr. Georgia Schafer, a provider at Tri-Cities Community Health.
The Republican reconciliation bill, which was signed into law last month, cuts more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the ACA over the next 10 years and will make health care more expensive and harder to access. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that Republicans’ health care cuts will terminate health insurance for roughly 15 million Americans nationwide.
“The cold, hard reality is that Republicans signed into law a bill that cuts Medicaid, kicks people off their health care, drives up health care costs, and shutters health care providers across the country. Under this bill, Washington state is expected to lose between $31 and $51 billion dollars in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade,” Senator Murray said. “We have several rural hospitals that are fighting to survive—not to mention, rural labor and delivery units that are hanging on by a thread. The bill Republicans just passed puts them at serious risk. That is bad news for everyone—no matter if you’re on Medicaid, Medicare, or even employer-sponsored coverage. Because it hardly matters what insurance you’re on when you don’t have a hospital to get care anymore! And we are here today, because Central Washington is going to get hit especially hard by this. The 4th Congressional District has the highest Medicaid enrollment of any district in our state… So, families need to understand what is happening—and they need to know we are going to continue fighting to prevent the damage from these cuts, and support community health centers and hospitals. I’ve introduced legislation with my colleagues to reverse the painful cuts to Medicaid—and I’m also working to extend the ACA health care tax credits. Republicans either need to work with us to fix this, or they are going to be held accountable.”
In Washington state, nearly 2 million people—roughly 1 in 5—are enrolled in Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. Washington’s 4th Congressional District has the highest Medicaid enrollment in Washington state, with nearly 300,000 people—38 percent of all residents—reliant on Apple Health, including 70 percent of all children in the state. About 400,000 Washingtonians are expected to lose health care coverage under the Republican bill, including at least 250,000 who will lose Apple Health coverage and as many as 150,000 who will be newly priced out of the state’s health care exchange, Washington Healthplanfinder. Hospitals in Washington state could lose at least $662 million in Medicaid revenue every year under the bill—forcing hospitals to lay off staff, cut services, or close their doors entirely. Overall, Washington state is expected to lose between $31 billion and $51 billion in federal Medicaid dollars over the next decade. Last year, Washington had an uninsured rate of 4.8 percent—the lowest in the country—but the Republican bill is expected to balloon that number into the double digits.
“The proposed cuts to Medicaid are not just numbers on a spreadsheet — they’re decisions that will directly affect real people. These are working parents, children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities — many of whom already face daily challenges just to make it to their appointments. Barriers like housing insecurity, language access issues, or transportation challenges. Taking away their coverage pushes them even further to the margins,” said Kristy Needham, CEO of Tri-Cities Community Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center that serves more than 29,000 patients within 39 zip codes across the Tri-Cities region, 70 percent of whom rely on Medicaid to access essential health services—including primary care, dental, behavioral care, and preventive care. “If Medicaid is cut and we’re unable to sustain our services at current levels, the reality is that our patients will have nowhere else to go — except the emergency room. And we all know the ER is not the right place for managing chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma, for treating depression, or for getting a child’s vaccines. It’s more expensive, less personal, and already overburdened. When people can’t access timely care, small health issues become crises — and the entire healthcare system pays the price. At Tri-Cities Community Health, we believe healthcare is a basic human right. We exist because people matter. Medicaid gives our patients stability, dignity, and a pathway to better health. Cutting it puts all of that at risk.”
“I am here to speak plainly, because the situation demands it. The federal budget Reconciliation Bill, H.R.1, poses a catastrophic threat to rural health care. If left unaddressed, it will destabilize hospital systems like Astria Health and leave communities without access to essential care. Astria Health’s hospitals are now at immediate risk,” said Brian Gibbons, President and CEO of Astria Health, which runs Astria Sunnyside Hospital, Astria Toppenish Hospital, along with other health centers in the region. “Here’s the reality we’re facing: as thousands of our neighbors are expected to lose Medicaid coverage, more patients will arrive at our hospitals without insurance and without the means to pay. Under EMTALA, we will continue to provide care—but without meaningful reimbursement reform, the financial pressure on our hospitals becomes unsustainable. We are proud to serve everyone who walks through our doors—but here’s the truth: the math no longer works. We need Congress to recognize that EMTALA without adequate funding is an unfunded mandate—and it puts rural hospitals like ours at risk. In communities like ours, where Medicaid is currently the lifeline, cuts to reimbursement shift the entire burden onto hospitals. These are communities with very few large employers and limited access to private insurance. As Medicaid coverage shrinks, the number of uninsured grows. And so do hospital losses. No health care system can absorb these costs forever.”
“We sounded the alarm. We worked closely with our congressional delegation. We spelled out exactly what would happen in Toppenish, Sunnyside, the Yakama Nation, and surrounding areas. Congress passed H.R. 1 anyway. We call that what it is: a betrayal of our country’s most vulnerable families,” Gibbons continued. There’s a dangerous misconception circulating—that HR1 only affects health care access for non-citizens. But the truth is far more alarming. When hospitals like ours are forced to close departments, consolidate services, or even shut down entirely due to funding shortfalls, it’s not just one group that suffers—it’s everyone. These are not theoretical discussions. The discussions are happening now. Rural communities, working families, seniors, and children all lose access. H.R. 1 doesn’t draw lines—it erases them. It threatens the stability of the entire healthcare system. Every option on the table is being evaluated through a single lens: how do we preserve access to care for the people who depend on us?… These are not line items in a budget. They are families. Farmworkers. Grandparents. Children. And they deserve access to care.”
“Medicaid is essential to funding primary care, mental health, and chronic disease management programs. When those dollars are reduced, it directly impacts our ability to provide timely, comprehensive care — especially in rural and underserved areas,” said Nieves Gomez, CEO of Columbia Basin Health Association. “While we support efforts to eliminate waste and inefficiencies in the system, we urge decision-makers to find solutions that do not limit access for low-income families. To fulfill the vision of ‘Making America Healthy Again,’ health centers must remain financially stable and fully supported through strong Medicaid coverage.”
“People who lose Medicaid eligibility due to these cuts will still give birth—often arriving in labor at Emergency Departments without prenatal care, which places additional strain on overburdened hospitals that provide labor and delivery services,” said Dr. Cynthia Flynn, Managing Partner at Columbia Birth Center and past President of the American Association of Birth Centers. “Having worked abroad in countries where only the wealthy receive prenatal care, I have witnessed the tragic consequences, including delivering stillborn babies and attending to hemorrhaging mothers. The U.S. currently ranks 69th in maternal mortality worldwide and is the only industrialized nation with a rising maternal mortality rate. In the single year between 2019 and 2020, the rate increased by nearly 30 percent, with 80 percent of these deaths deemed preventable. Reducing Medicaid access and reimbursement will only exacerbate this alarming trend. Our health system is failing, and cutting Medicaid does not improve maternal and infant health.”
“At Tri-Cities Community Health, and at health centers across Washington state, we are deeply concerned about the projected decline in patients covered by Medicaid and marketplace insurance in the coming years. This shift threatens the financial stability of community health centers (CHCs) like ours and may force reductions in the vital services we provide,” said Dr. Georgia Schafer, a provider at Tri-Cities Community Health. “As a healthcare provider, I take great pride in delivering preventive, consistent, and whole-person care. My patients trust that we will be there for them—not just in moments of crisis, but throughout their healthcare journey. When patients lose access to insurance, they often delay or forgo care altogether, increasing the risk of severe health complications and resulting in more visits to overcrowded and costly emergency rooms.”
Nationwide, the Republican health care cuts represent a more than $400 billion dollar hit to America’s hospitals—which are the sixth-largest employer in the country. One estimate found that over 330 rural hospitals will likely be forced to close or scale back their services, which will force more Americans to travel further for maternity care and emergency rooms, and face longer wait times. An estimated 477,000 health workers will lose their jobs as a result of the Republican cuts to Medicaid.
Senator Murray has held constant recent events—including multiple events in Washington state—to sound the alarm on Republicans’ devastating reconciliation bill and encourage constituents to raise their voices and call on their Members of Congress to oppose the legislation. Senator Murray and Democrats forced Republicans to take dozens of tough votes over a nonstop 30-hour “vote-a-rama,” which came after Democrats forced a full reading of every word of Republicans’ 940-page bill. During Senate consideration of the legislation, Senator Murray put forward an amendment to strike a provision of the legislation that achieves anti-abortion extremists’ long-sought goal of “defunding” Planned Parenthood; Republicans blocked the amendment. Senator Murray spoke repeatedly on the Senate floor during debate over the bill, laying out in detail the harm the legislation would cause. Senator Murray also spoke out repeatedly on the Senate floor against Republicans’ use of a depictive so-called “current policy baseline” to hide the true cost of their deficit-busting tax cuts for billionaires.
Senator Murray’s remarks at today’s press conference are below:
“Thank you all for joining me today. And thank you to Tri-Cities Community Health for hosting this event.
“We are here today to raise the alarm, and to set the record straight on how Republicans’ Big, Ugly bill will be devastating for health care in America. Because the cold, hard reality is that Republicans signed into law a bill that cuts Medicaid, kicks people off their health care, drives up health care costs, and shutters health care providers across the country.
“Under this bill, Washington state is expected to lose between $31 and $51 billion dollars in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade. We are looking at the largest-ever cuts to Medicaid, which we know in Washington state as Apple Health. At least 250,000 people in Washington will lose Apple Health coverage under this bill. That’s already devastating.
“But it’s not just people who rely on Medicaid who are at risk. Because Republicans also outright refused to extend important tax credits that lower the cost of health care for middle-class families and small business owners.
“Everyone needs to understand—right now—that this is going to send premiums skyrocketing. Because these tax credits are saving millions of people across the country hundreds of dollars a month!
“In Washington state, we have over 200,000 people—who are saving around $1,300 a year on average. Letting this support expire, and letting the floor drop out from under families, will mean as many as 150,000 more people will lose coverage when they are priced out of our state’s health care exchange.
“And even those who aren’t priced out entirely are going to take a huge hit to their family budgets. For example, a 60-year-old Washington couple making $82,000 a year may see their premiums triple from just under $7,000 to over $22,000 a year.
“This is already coming down the pike! And marketplace insurers are right now requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years. In Washington state, health insurers have already requested to hike their rates by over 20 percent.
“And the damage still goes farther. Because the health care cuts in Trump’s bill are going to hit hospitals and health care providers right in their budgets. Hospitals in Washington state alone could lose $662 million in Medicaid revenue every year—forcing hospitals to lay off staff, cut services, or even close their doors.
“We have several rural hospitals that are fighting to survive—not to mention, rural labor and delivery units that are hanging on by a thread. The bill Republicans just passed puts them at serious risk. That is bad news for everyone. No matter if you’re on Medicaid, Medicare, or even employer-sponsored coverage. Because it hardly matters what insurance you’re on when you don’t have a hospital to get care anymore!
“And we here today, because Central Washington is going to get hit especially hard by this. The 4th Congressional District has the highest Medicaid enrollment of any district in our state.
“This is an area with lots of working-class families who benefit from health care tax credits. And this is an area with a health care provider shortage, so the rural hospitals and community health centers here today are critical to families.
“So, families need to understand what is happening. And they need to know we are going to continue fighting to prevent the damage from these cuts and support community health centers and hospitals like the ones who are here with me today.
“I’ve introduced legislation with my colleagues to reverse the painful cuts to Medicaid, and I’m also working to extend the ACA health care tax credits. The hard truth is, Republicans either need to work with us to fix this—or they are going to be held accountable.
“Americans don’t want to see their community health center shutter, or the hospital they rely on for care close down services. They don’t want to lose their health insurance, and they don’t want their neighbors to either!
“That’s why we are here today to get out the word, to lift up the voices of health care providers, and to put a bright spotlight on what these health care cuts mean for real people, and real community health centers and hospitals in Central Washington.”
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