Overview

• The Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act would repeal limits on states’ ability to levy provider taxes and lift caps on state-directed Medicaid payments.
• Hawley’s legislation would add $50 billion to an existing rural hospital fund and extend its duration from five to ten years.
• The measure follows Hawley’s July 4 vote for a Senate-passed tax-and-spending law that cut roughly $1 trillion from Medicaid.
• Democratic lawmakers denounced the reversal as hypocritical, with Sen. Chris Coons questioning why Hawley moved to undo cuts he backed two weeks earlier.
• The bill’s future remains uncertain as Republicans remain divided over health-care financing and Senate leaders weigh next steps.