Durbin Amendment To Help Rural Hospitals At Greatest Risk Of Closure Defeated By Republicans In Ag Committee

Durbin Amendment To Help Rural Hospitals At Greatest Risk Of Closure Defeated By Republicans In Ag Committee

WASHINGTON - During today's consideration of the Farm Bill in the Senate Agriculture Committee, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) offered an amendment that would provide federal grants to rural hospitals at risk of closure. Rural hospitals are facing severe financial strain due to major federal funding cuts by congressional Republicans. Durbin's amendment would have provided $200 million a year for grants to rural hospitals at greatest risk of closure. Every Republican voted against Durbin's amendment.

Rural hospitals are the backbone of their communities, and often the largest employers, contributing nearly $5 billion in direct spending on payroll, goods, and services in Illinois. Yet due to funding cuts passed by Congressional Republicans, more than 300 hospitals are facing immediate closure risk, including 24 in Illinois.

"Let's put farm families back in the Farm Bill. And what I'm talking about specifically are not only the profits and losses in farm operations, but the burdens that farm families are carrying. Twenty-seven percent of farm families have Obamacare, Affordable Care Act insurance policies. What has happened to those in the last year? Dramatic increases in cost," Durbin said. "A farmer in Nebraska expects to pay for his wife and himself $32,000 this year for health insurance premiums. Last year, $13,000. You say to yourself, what impact does that have? The impact it has is not just on that family and their fear of how they are going to pay the premiums, but a question about health care providers in his farm state, in his rural state."

Durbin continued, "What do the hospitals tell you when you go home? … Senator Duckworth and I sent letters to 129 rural hospitals in Illinois and said, how are you doing? More than half of them said, we are in trouble-serious trouble. And if you look at the numbers across the board, in Illinois, 24 rural hospitals-30 percent of the total-are at risk of closure. In Arkansas, 50 percent are at risk of closure. Mississippi, six hospitals [are] facing closure. Senator Thune, [in] South Dakota, 40 percent of hospitals are on the brink of closure. What happens when the hospital closes? I can tell you right off the bat it means that the farmer that was injured in a serious, maybe life-threatening accident takes longer and longer to get to an emergency room."

Durbin concluded, "Here's what I'm proposing-it is modest, by federal standards, but it is important. I think we ought to make a commitment in this Farm Bill to rural hospitals. And what I am proposing is that we create an opportunity for rural hospitals to get up to $8 million in grants to survive. These are hospitals that are serving clearly rural areas and not wealthy people. They are struggling farm families and struggling rural families. What does it amount to? Five years at $200 million amounts to $1 billion… it represents 48 hours in the war in Iran."

Congressional Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which passed last year, cut $1 trillion from Medicaid and $300 billion from Affordable Care Act coverage over the next decade in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires. Following passage of OBBBA, Durbin sent a letter to every hospital in Illinois to survey the projected impact on hospitals. Across the 129 responses Durbin received, hospitals across Illinois, especially those in rural areas, detailed fears about pending cuts to services and staff while emergency room wait times increase.

In response to rural hospitals' concerns about potential cuts or forced closures, Durbin has advanced his bipartisan Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act. The legislation would update Medicare's "Critical Access Hospital" (CAH) designation so more rural hospitals can qualify for this financial lifeline and continue to serve their communities with quality, affordable health care services.

Video of Durbin's comments in Committee is available here.

Audio of Durbin's comments in Committee is available here.

Footage of Durbin's comments in Committee is available here for TV Stations.

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