Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is warning that President Trump’s megabill could run off the tracks this week if Senate Republican leaders fail to address his GOP colleagues’ concerns that deep cuts to Medicaid spending would devastate rural hospitals in their home states.
Hawley said Republican leaders provided little detail Monday night about how they would help rural hospitals, nursing homes and community health care providers in rural areas.
“I am confident it will not be put on the floor as it is currently. Something will change. They’ll add something, it’s just unclear to me what it is,” he said of the pending Senate legislation.
“It’s all a work in progress,” he said, warning: “This rural hospital stuff, this could threaten the progress of the whole bill.
“Let’s resolve this and move this thing along. Otherwise, we’re going to be sitting here looking at each other in August,” he advised.
One proposal floated by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is to set up a $100 billion relief fund for rural hospitals, nursing homes and community health centers.
Hawley on Monday called that idea a “good start.”
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has so far declined to commit to any specific fix for rural hospitals.
“I said this in the meeting: Senate leadership needs to go to rural hospitals, and they need to go to the House leadership, and they need to work this out, and they need to address the rural hospitals’ concerns,” Hawley said after a 90-minute meeting to discuss a possible floor vote this week on the GOP megabill to enact Trump’s agenda.
“If that happens, then this bill will pass here and in the House. I think if that doesn’t happen, I don’t know if it will pass here, but it will get us in a conference committee in the House, and I’m opposed to that,” he said.
Thune did not tell colleagues how much money he would be willing to allocate to a hospital relief fund, raising questions among GOP senators about whether the bill is ready to come to the floor this week.
“There were questions, ‘OK, what kind of a fund are we talking about?’ And they said, ‘Well, we’re working on it,’” Hawley said.
Other Republican senators raised concerns Monday about how the debate over the Medicaid-related provisions in the bill is playing out.
“I still have concerns about a few provisions in the bill. I’m not satisfied yet,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who cited “Medicaid” as his biggest problem with the legislation.
“Broadly, Medicaid, related to the well-being of hospitals in Kansas and rural America,” he said.
Moran said he is “still making a case” to his leadership that those Medicaid provisions need to be reworked.
Collins last week floated a proposal to establish a health care provider relief fund to help rural hospitals, nursing homes and community health centers.
“I’m not sure where it stands right now,” she said of the Medicaid-related provisions in the bill. “I’m still opposed to the changes in the provider tax provisions.
“I still believe that we need $100 billion provider-relief fund to assist our distressed rural hospitals, nursing homes and community health centers,” she said.
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