Davids Hosts Rural Healthcare Roundtable, Highlights Impact of Medicaid Cuts on Kansas Communities

GARNETT, KS — Today, Representative Sharice Davids convened a roundtable with leaders from rural hospitals, community health clinics, and other organizations serving rural Kansans to discuss the harmful impact of extreme Medicaid cuts — made to fund tax giveaways for billionaires. With Kansas already having lost several rural hospitals over the past decade, these new cuts are accelerating closures and further limiting access to care in rural communities.

“Rural hospitals are already stretched thin, and these reckless Medicaid cuts only make it worse,” said Davids. “If we lose a rural hospital, everyone in that community — whether they’re on Medicaid or not — loses access to life-saving care. And these cuts don’t just put lives at risk. They drive up costs for everyone by forcing people to travel farther, wait longer, and delay the care they need. I’ll keep fighting to protect Kansas hospitals and the families who rely on them.”

The extreme Republican budget law includes the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history. According to the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee, the new law will strip coverage from 92,937 Kansans, put six rural hospitals across Kansas at risk of closure, restrict reproductive healthcare, and increase Affordable Care Act premiums by $708 per year for Third District families.

Medicaid is a vital lifeline for rural hospitals, particularly in states like Kansas that have not expanded coverage. These extreme cuts threaten to strip over $78 million annually from Kansas hospitals that already care for high numbers of uninsured patients. Because Medicaid accounts for one-fifth of overall hospital spending, slashing this funding will drive up uncompensated care costs and push struggling facilities past the breaking point — forcing Kansans to travel hours just to get emergency or specialized care.

To help fix this issue, Davids introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen rural hospital infrastructure and enhance patient care. The Rural Hospital Revitalization Act would provide interest-free loans of up to 10 years through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Facilities Program to support the construction and renovation of rural hospitals. The bill would allow rural hospitals to reinvest the savings from reduced debt costs into clinical care, workforce retention, and other operational needs.

Throughout her time in Congress, Davids has championed policies to make healthcare more affordable and accessible. She voted to cap insulin costs at $35 per month for Medicare recipients, extend tax credits that help families afford insurance through the Affordable Care Act, and cap annual out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors. She also supported giving Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices — saving 74,000 Kansans up to 79 percent — and led efforts to ban surprise medical billing and increase transparency from insurers to help patients avoid costly out-of-network care.

Participants in today’s roundtable included AdventHealth Ottawa, Hunger Free Kansas, Kansas Hospital Association, and Watkins Public Strategies.