Rural hospitals across America are starting to shut down following the Republican Party’s passage of Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” The sweeping legislation includes deep cuts to Medicaid — a move already triggering closures and sparking warnings of a growing health care crisis in rural communities.
On Thursday, Curtis Medical Center in Nebraska became one of the first hospitals to fall.
“While Republicans celebrate the passage of the largest Medicaid cut in history, the Curtis Medical Center in Nebraska announced it will shut down as a result of these horrific cuts — the first of many hospitals to close,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a statement posted to X. “This is a dark day for rural America and for our country.”
Just an hour earlier, Community Hospital in McCook, Nebraska, also announced it would be shutting its doors.
“Unfortunately, the current financial environment, driven by anticipated federal budget cuts to Medicaid, has made it impossible for us to continue operating all of our services, many of which have faced significant financial challenges for years,” said Troy Bruntz, president and CEO of Community Hospital, in a news release.
These aren’t isolated events. According to the Nebraska Rural Health Association, more hospitals are expected to follow.
“We currently have six hospitals that we feel are in a critical financial state, three that are in an impending kind of closure or conversion over to the rural emergency hospital model,” said Jed Hansen, the group’s executive director. “We would likely see the closures within a year to two years of once [the bill is] fully enacted.”
The cuts, pushed through Congress by Republicans and backed by Trump, are being called the largest Medicaid reductions in U.S. history. While GOP leaders tout the bill as a win for fiscal responsibility, rural health care systems are warning it will destroy what little infrastructure they have left.
Across the country, 760 hospitals are now at risk of closing, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
In New York, the Fiscal Policy Institute reports that 15 hospitals in Republican-held districts could shut down under the new law.
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” may go down as one of the most devastating hits to rural health care in decades.
