Medicaid cuts amplify fears of hospital closures across Oklahoma

The “big, beautiful bill” was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday, but cuts to Medicaid could put hospitals and medical services at risk across Oklahoma. The bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk, and he is expected to sign it into law on July 4. Within it are nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid across the U.S. Dozens of hospitals across Oklahoma were operating in the negative margins and faced risk of closure even before this bill, according to a report by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. But hospital administrators said the new legislation could speed up that timeline. “Cuts of this magnitude, we have not seen anything like this in our recent history,” said Denise Webber, president and CEO of Stillwater Medical.On June 27, the Oklahoma Hospital Association hosted a news conference, where hospital leaders across the state spoke about the implications of the “big, beautiful bill” if it were to become law. Trump is expected to sign it into law on Friday, which is the Fourth of July. The bill includes many of Trump’s priorities. The Medicaid cuts were said to reduce fraud and abuse within the program, but hospital leaders said it will do more than that. >> Video Below: Dozens of Oklahoma hospitals are at risk. Managed Medicaid has kept them afloatLast week, administrators called for action, asking lawmakers to find another way to reduce spending without cutting Medicaid. “We urge our senators to really listen to what this would do to the state. It is enormous, and there’s not a plan for what would happen to fellow Oklahomans,” Webber said. In the report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, there are 47 rural hospitals at risk of closing in Oklahoma. Of those, 23 face an immediate risk of closing. “At a maximum, I think it hastens the speed that rural hospitals predominantly would be under pressure of potentially closing,” said Bennett Geister, president of Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City Communities.>> Video Below: Oklahoma Policy Institute: ‘Big, beautiful bill’ would add more hoops for Oklahomans with MedicaidOklahoma has already seen 10 hospitals close since 2005, according to the Oklahoma Hospital Association. These facilities are often the largest employers in communities. With these cuts, the Oklahoma Hospital Association said as many as 14,769 Oklahomans could lose their jobs. “What that’s going to do is that’s going to cause families to relocate to areas with more accessible health care. Economies in rural communities are going to decline because of that,” said Trent Bourland, vice president of rural development with SSM Health Oklahoma. Hospital leaders broke down how much funding could be taken from hospitals within each Oklahoma congressional district each year. In the 1st Congressional District, there could be an annual reduction of $171.9 million. In the 2nd Congressional District, there could be a $88 million reduction, and the 3rd Congressional District could see a $66.6 million reduction. The 4th Congressional District could lose $99.6 million, and the 5th Congressional District could lose $167.4 million each year. >> Video Below: Rural Oklahoma hospitals could lose vital services with Medicaid cuts, expert saysThe Oklahoma Hospital Association also said it would take $8.7 billion away from Oklahoma’s economy over a decade, which would be more than if Tinker Air Force Base or Fort Sill shut down. But it isn’t just about job losses. Hospitals across Oklahoma said they could be forced to cut programs, including labor and delivery services. Geister said there are currently only 43 hospitals in the state that provide these services, and 54% of those deliveries rely on Medicaid. “If Medicaid gets cut this drastically, you’re going to see fewer hospitals that deliver babies for all patients, and that’s just very simple math,” Geister said. >> Video Below: In rural Oklahoma, women travel hours to get maternity care. One couple is trying to change thatThese problems won’t just have potential impacts on rural hospitals already at risk. “Access to healthcare for all Oklahomans will be affected,” Geister said.Hospital leaders said the fallout will be felt across Oklahoma. “The pressure on the system that this will create, beyond just what happens here, is enormous. We’re all interconnected. We’ll often get into these conversations of rural and urban, but there’s not much of a rural and urban in health care anymore, because we’re all in this together,” Jay Johnson, president and CEO of DRH Health. U.S. Sen. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, supported the bill as it moved through the Senate. He joined KOCO 5 on Thursday, shortly after the bill passed the House. >> Get the latest news stories of interest by clicking here.During his interview, he said Oklahomans in rural parts of the state should not be worried about significant cuts thanks to a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals that was included in the bill. “We added a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals to make sure there wasn’t an impact on rural hospitals, and they’re protected because that’s very important,” Lankford said. “Our state, like a bunch of other states, have found new creative ways to be able to move less cost to the state and more cost to the federal government. This is the federal government pushing back and saying, ‘No, we’ve made an agreement. You’ll cover this part. We’ll cover this part. We both got to keep our part of the deal.'” The bill appropriates $10 billion to the rural hospital fund each year starting in fiscal year 2026 and ending after fiscal year 2030. States that are eligible for the funds must apply for them by Dec. 31, 2025.”Our state legislators care very deeply about rural health care, as well. It’s not like the state Legislature is going to go, ‘I don’t care about rural health care.’ They do, and so we’re going to find ways to be able to make sure the state is also picking up their full portion and not trying to shift that to the federal government that already has $2 trillion in overspending,” Lankford said. The Oklahoma Hospital Association told KOCO these cuts would not take place until 2029. The organization said it looks forward to speaking to Oklahoma lawmakers about the changes before then. 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