Protecting Health Care for Rural Mid-Michigan

Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals in mid-Michigan’s rural hospitals and health centers work tirelessly to provide essential and life-saving care for the families and communities they serve. The unfortunate reality is that these facilities that operate in remote areas may often face unique financial challenges. This is in large part a direct result of decades of failed, excessive, and outdated policies, which have left some rural hospitals struggling to provide essential services.

This is one of the many reasons I helped pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), which President Trump signed into law on July 4, making a historic $50 billion investment in rural providers. This significant support will finally put rural America’s hospitals FIRST and make meaningful progress towards a more personalized health care system that funds patients — not systems.

Current legacy programs, such as the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) Program or Critical Access Hospital Program, have failed to create long-term sustainability. This is primarily because funding is linked to reimbursement for services, and these facilities serve fewer patients and provide a lower volume of services than hospitals in urban areas. This system has put rural hospitals at a significant disadvantage in receiving reimbursement through government programs. In fact, only 7% of Medicaid funds make it to facilities that are serving rural areas.

I’m committed to supporting rural hospitals and clinics and protecting health care for all patients in mid-Michigan, no matter their ZIP code. In addition to providing tremendous financial support, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act also created the Rural Health Transformation Program to prioritize long-term stability for hospitals in mid-Michigan and across the country by providing financial support that is not directly linked to patient volume.

Delivering Historic Investments

The new Rural Health Transformation Program secures significant support for rural health care, investing an additional $10 billion each year. To put this in perspective, Medicaid spent only about $19 billion on rural hospitals last year, according to estimates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

This substantial new investment isn’t a blank check. The Rural Health Transformation Program is designed to help residents get healthier and put rural hospitals on a stronger financial footing.

Helping Patients and Hospitals in the Long Run

Under the program, each state will prepare a rural health transformation plan for improving access to rural health care, with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes for rural patients. These plans will also aim to secure long-term financial sustainability for rural providers. Rural health transformation plans will emphasize innovation and technological upgrades to help treat patients more effectively and affordably.

The $50 billion investment in rural health will support these efforts to promote evidence-based prevention and treatment of diseases, reduce hospital costs by improving efficiency, and ensure medical professionals can continue caring for rural mid-Michigan families.

Here are a few quick facts to set the record straight:

MYTH: The One Big Beautiful Bill will take Medicaid away from American families.

FACT: The One Big Beautiful Bill protects and strengthens Medicaid for those who rely on it — pregnant women, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families — while eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. The One Big Beautiful Bill removes illegal immigrants and enforces modest work requirements for adults who can work and have no dependents. This legislation protects Medicaid for the truly vulnerable.

MYTH: The One Big Beautiful Bill cuts Medicare.

FACT: Medicare has not been touched in this bill — absolutely nothing in the bill reduces spending on Medicare benefits. This legislation safeguards and protects these programs for all eligible Americans.

MYTH: The One Big Beautiful Bill will close rural hospitals.

FACT: The One Big Beautiful Bill makes a historic $50 billion in rural hospitals and health centers that have long been disadvantaged by failed policies. Rural hospitals receive just 7% of all hospital spending on Medicaid, illustrating that they have not benefited from the massive increase in waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid. By strengthening Medicaid, we are making more resources available for vulnerable populations and providers, including rural hospitals. We are protecting rural health care, providing targeted funds, and giving states flexibility to support local providers.

MYTH: The One Big Beautiful Bill will hurt people with disabilities.

FACT: The One Big Beautiful Bill protects and strengthens Medicaid for Americans with disabilities. Those with disabilities receiving Medicaid will receive no loss or change in coverage.

MYTH: The One Big Beautiful Bill punishes vulnerable Americans with work requirements to receive their benefits.

FACT: The 20-hour weekly work requirement applies only to able-bodied adults without children under 14 years old and promotes dignity, stability, and better health outcomes for families. The One Big Beautiful Bill recognizes the dignity of work with modest work requirements, which a majority of Americans support. Able-bodied Medicaid recipients may fulfill the work requirement by working, volunteering, studying, or training.

MYTH: There’s no fraud in Medicaid — Republicans are just taking coverage away from vulnerable populations.

FACT: In the last 10 years, CMS admitted that improper payments for Medicaid have exceeded half a trillion dollars. In just the past year, taxpayers spent $56 billion on benefits for able-bodied adults abusing the system, and over a million illegal immigrants are receiving free health care on the taxpayers' dime.