A future rural doctor’s plea: don’t cut Medicaid in Appalachia or anywhere else | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Proposed Medicaid cuts could drop coverage for 1.5 million rural Americans.
- Rural hospitals risk losing 21 cents of every Medicaid dollar they receive.
- Medicaid supports half of rural births and key addiction, mental health services.
During my rotations in clinics and hospitals across Eastern Kentucky, I met a young mother raising two kids on her own while working nights at a fast-food restaurant. She arrived exhausted, worried about her toddler with developmental delays. Medicaid covered their visit, and the therapy her child needs to thrive. Now she’s afraid that coverage could vanish.
That fear is real.
Congress is pushing massive Medicaid cuts through a budget reconciliation bill known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” If passed, over 1.5 million rural Americans, including thousands here in Kentucky and across Central Appalachia, could lose coverage. At the same time, rural hospitals in our state stand to lose 21 cents of every Medicaid dollar they depend on, according to new data from a National Rural Health Association report.
This is more than numbers. It is about real people doing everything they can to survive. These are parents working long hours in jobs without benefits, trying to get their kids care before the clinic closes or the car breaks down again. This bill punishes them for living in the wrong ZIP code.
Like it or not, Medicaid is the backbone of rural health. It covers half of all rural births. It funds mental health and addiction treatment in places hit hardest by the overdose crisis. It keeps clinics and hospitals open in counties with no backup option.
Cutting Medicaid will not just reduce services. It will shut maternity wards. It will send more hospitals over the edge. It will leave families without a lifeline.
As a medical student training in Eastern Kentucky and Chair of the National Rural Health Association Student Constituency Group, I have seen the cracks in the system in small towns across the United States. This bill would turn those cracks into chasms.
Medicaid is not just a line in the budget. It is what allows that mother in Eastern Kentucky to get help for her child. It is what keeps rural health care alive.
Appalachia is already stretched thin. Our lawmakers must not let it break.
Bradley Firchow is a medical student and Chair of the National Rural Health Association Student Constituency Group.