A rural medical clinic in Nebraska — located in a district that President Donald Trump won by more than 50 points in the 2024 election — is being forced to close its doors, with its CEO citing federal cuts to Medicaid as the main reason behind the shutdown.
The closure comes just days after Republicans pushed through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping tax cuts and spending package that includes deep reductions to Medicaid. The bill passed in the House by a 218-214 vote, with every Democrat and two Republicans opposing it. Trump is expected to sign it into law on July 4.
The legislation aims to fulfill Trump’s signature campaign promises — including making permanent the tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit wealthy Americans and ramping up funding for immigration enforcement. To offset those costs, the bill imposes large spending cuts on Medicaid and food assistance programs, which critics argue will devastate working-class, low-income, and elderly Americans — particularly those in rural red states.
Community Hospital, based in McCook, Nebraska, announced this week that it will shut down its rural clinic in Curtis, a town of about 900 residents.
“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, many of which have faced significant financial challenges for years,” said Community Hospital CEO Troy Bruntz in a statement on Wednesday.
As of the 2024 fiscal year, more than 350,000 Nebraskans rely on Medicaid. Both Community Hospital and Curtis Medical Center are located in Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, which Trump carried by 76.3 percent of the vote, compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’s 22.5 percent.
In response to the news, the White House defended the legislation, telling Newsweek in a statement: “President Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill strengthens and protects Medicaid for those who rely on it most by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. Only 7% of current Medicaid spending goes to rural hospitals, but President Trump’s historic legislation invests billions for states to assist their most vulnerable providers.”
Trump also celebrated the bill’s passage on Truth Social, writing: “The people of the United States of America will be Richer, Safer, and Prouder than ever before … Together, we can do things that were not even imagined possible less than one year ago. We will keep working, and winning — CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!”
Republican Congressman Adrian Smith, who represents Nebraska’s 3rd District, voted in favor of the bill, calling it “a game changer for American workers, families, and our nation’s long-term fiscal outlook.” Smith said in a statement: “It not only prevents severe tax hikes and expands tax relief for family farms, small businesses, and middle-class Americans, it strengthens essential Farm Bill programs.”
Democrats, however, slammed the legislation and warned of widespread consequences for rural America. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said: “This devastating hospital closure is just the first of many rural hospitals that could be closing their doors thanks to Republicans’ utter betrayal of rural Americans. As House Republicans bend the knee to party extremists and gut these critical programs, it’s America’s working families that will be left to suffer.”
The Nebraska Hospital Association also sounded the alarm, saying that the bill could cause thousands to lose health coverage: “We already have a number of hospitals already operating in the red. And so when you add this $1 trillion cut to Medicaid, this is already an untenable situation for hospitals to operate. And so especially those rural communities, you’re going to have lost services.”
Smith countered in his statement: “[The bill] also ensures public assistance programs remain sustainable for the neediest Americans and empowers the Trump administration to keep our communities safe. I championed provisions in the package which will empower parents with educational choice, support biofuels producers and energy affordability, and boost growth for capital-intensive industries such as manufacturing. After years of work in the Ways and Means Committee and months of intense debate across both the House and the Senate, this bill will catalyze President Trump’s plan to energize our economy and get our country back on track.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sharply criticized the legislation, calling it “one, big, ugly bill.” During his record-breaking 8-hour and 44-minute floor speech delaying Thursday’s vote, Jeffries said: “Republicans are trying to jam this one, big, ugly bill down the throats of the American people … Leadership requires courage, conviction, compassion — and yet what we have seen from this administration and co-conspirators on the Republican side of the aisle is cruelty, chaos and corruption.”
Jeffries added that the bill was “an extraordinary assault on the health care of the American people.”
Democratic Representative Josh Riley of New York was even more direct, saying: “This bill will kill good, blue-collar manufacturing jobs that we need to rebuild the economy in this country. It closes rural hospitals. It defunds health care. All to give trillions of dollars in tax cuts to your cronies. Don’t tell me you give a s*** about the middle class when all you are doing is s* on the middle class.”
The Curtis Medical Center is expected to wind down operations in the coming months.
Source - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/13/trump-tax-bill-medicaid-rural/
