Hawley Seeks to Undo Medicaid Cuts He Backed

Senator Josh Hawley has introduced the 'Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act' to reverse major Medicaid cuts enacted in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' which he supported two weeks earlier. The bill seeks to repeal restrictions on states' ability to tax healthcare providers and to remove caps on state-directed payments, both critical for Medicaid and rural hospital funding. Hawley also proposes to double the rural hospital fund to $100 billion and extend its duration from five to ten years. Experts caution that these changes would not fully offset the estimated $155 billion in Medicaid cuts to rural areas over ten years, and the original legislation slashed nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid overall. Critics, including Democrats, accuse Hawley of political opportunism, while he argues the measures are necessary to safeguard working families and rural healthcare. The controversy highlights partisan divisions and political maneuvering over Medicaid ahead of the midterm elections.