WASHINGTON STATE – President Donald Trump signed a significant bill into law today from the White House lawn. Dubbed his “Big, Beautiful Bill,” it extends and adds tax cuts totaling $4.5 trillion, while boosting funding for immigration enforcement and defense.
While the new law aims to enhance certain sectors, it does so at the cost of sweeping cuts to services that may affect rural communities across the U.S., including Eastern Washington. To balance the added spending and decreased tax revenue, the measure cuts millions in Medicaid and food assistance.
Cassi Sauer, CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association, expressed concern about the potential impact on healthcare. She stated that between 2,000 and 350,000 people could lose Medicaid coverage, forcing many to rely on emergency rooms as their primary source of care.
“That’s a lot of people who go from having insurance coverage to being uninsured, and if they need health care, they’re going to the hospital,” Sauer said. “The emergency room becomes their default, becomes their family doctor, basically, and there’s no payment for them.”
Sauer emphasized that Eastern Washington could be particularly affected due to higher Medicaid enrollment and patients potentially coming from struggling hospitals in Idaho. Facilities in Spokane and surrounding communities might face increased pressure.
“The concern is just that people will say we can’t, we can’t continue to operate this like we don’t, it’s too expensive. We don’t have enough staff. We just can’t we can’t operate it,” she added.
Sauer further explained that with reduced Medicare funding, hospitals may have to decide whether to cut outpatient care services like primary care or urgent care to ensure they can still provide emergency surgery and labor services.
