CR's July 25, 2025 Times Standard Education Matters Article--Risks to Rural Healthcare

Published on Jul 22 2025

For decades, our country has been in a debate about healthcare reform, who should have access to care and how we should pay for it. I read a 2024 Harvard Business Review article by Blumenthal, Gumas, and Williams, which cites a Commonwealth Fund study (U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2025) that reports, despite these debates, the U.S. consistently ranks last or next to last among high-income countries in access, outcomes, equity, process, and efficiency in delivering healthcare to its citizens. 

They went on to argue that preventing the United States from falling further behind will require significant changes in our healthcare system, including closing remaining gaps in insurance coverage, limiting debilitating out-of-pocket-expenditures, and reviving the system’s failing primary care capabilities. 

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law in 2010 by President Obama, was an attempt to address some of these shortfalls. The bill ushered in quantifiable improvements in health insurance, not only for ACA enrollees but also for those on Medicare, Medicaid, and those who received insurance through their employers. 

Sadly, far from ending the debate over the government’s role in health care, the ACA has been politically charged. 

Although much of the public approved of the law, Republican lawmakers have repeatedly sought to repeal the ACA since its adoption, without offering any clear replacement. It took some time, but their goal was partially realized when President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on July 4, 2025.

Proponents of the new law argue that it will reduce the federal deficit by eliminating fraud and abuse in government programs, suggesting that savings from cuts and efficiencies would outweigh costs. Conversely, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects the law will add $3.3 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.

I believe that, regardless of your political affiliation, we would all agree that reducing government waste and eliminating fraud in our healthcare system is a laudable goal. However, the new law will cut about $1 trillion from Medicaid mostly through work requirements and reductions on how states can fund their Medicaid programs. In California, the cuts will cost us $28.4 billion and result in 3.4 million Californians losing coverage, according to an estimate from Governor Newsom and state health officials (CalMatters, 2025).

Our rural hospitals are bracing for the impact of the new law. Since rural hospitals rely on Medicaid funding to serve low-income patients, hospital administrators will have to make hard financial decisions within the next few years on what services they can afford to offer and what to discontinue. Locally, Mad River Community Hospital is already under pressure, having suspended labor and delivery services. Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District and Open Door share the same vulnerabilities common to small rural hospitals. 

CR knows that without our rural hospitals, the health of our communities will suffer, and we will lose vital training sites for the next generation of nurses and healthcare workers. We have redoubled our efforts to provide the workforce our hospitals and clinics need to continue delivering quality healthcare in our region. 

We have started the process of building a state-of-the-art healthcare training center on our Del Norte Campus. And with the generous donation of one million dollars from the Del Norte Healthcare District, we will be able to provide advanced healthcare training equipment in the center, helping to prepare local students for in-demand careers in the healthcare sector and graduate more LVNs and RNs.

Thanks to the partnership with Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH) and immeasurable support from Senator McGuire, our joint healthcare education training hub in Humboldt County is coming to fruition. Our goal is to offer CR and CPH classes at the healthcare hub beginning in fall 2027. 

CR is also partnering with Providence Hospital to offer five new healthcare programs over the next two years: Psychiatric Technician, Radiology Technician, Healthcare Navigation, Surgical Technician, and Respiratory Technician. We are excited that this collaboration will give us an opportunity to provide a workforce committed to staying local and reduce the need for our local hospitals to employ costly temporary “traveling” staff.

I hope that the new training facilities and new academic programs will take some pressure off local hospitals while at the same time providing them with the workforce they need.

The road ahead is uncertain and challenging for rural health. However, I believe that through collaboration and a shared focus on improvements and policies that will strengthen our healthcare outlook, we will be able to weather these turbulent times.