Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is sounding the alarm over the GOP’s newly passed spending bill, calling it a devastating blow to rural communities — just as a Nebraska medical center announced it will be shutting its doors.
“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,” Sanders wrote Thursday on X. “This is a dark day for rural America and for our country.”
His statement came just one hour after Community Hospital in McCook, Nebraska, announced it would be closing its Curtis location, citing unsustainable financial losses.
“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,” said Troy Bruntz, president and CEO of Community Hospital, in a statement to Nebraska Public Media. He noted that many of the hospital’s services had been financially strained for years.
In a later interview with Nebraska Television Network, Bruntz revealed the hospital was $2 million in deficit, pointing to the end of federal CARES Act funds in 2023 and inflation since 2019 as contributing factors.
Healthcare leaders in Nebraska warn that this may just be the beginning. According to Jed Hansen, executive director of the Nebraska Rural Health Association, six hospitals in the state are in critical financial condition, with three already facing potential closure or conversion into limited-service rural emergency hospitals.
“We would likely see the closures within a year to two years once the bill is fully enacted,” Hansen warned.
The problem isn’t limited to Nebraska. Across the country, hospitals are bracing for fallout. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, 760 hospitals nationwide are now at risk of shutting down due to reduced funding under the Republican-supported legislation.
In New York alone, 15 hospitals located in GOP-held congressional districts are also considered vulnerable, according to a report from the Fiscal Policy Institute.
The sweeping Medicaid cuts are part of what Republicans dubbed their “Big Beautiful Bill,” a controversial budget package that has drawn strong pushback from Democrats and healthcare advocates alike, especially in rural and underserved regions.
