Durbin Files Amendments To Republicans' Reconciliation Bill To Protect Rural Hospitals And Medical Research
WASHINGTON – Ahead of an upcoming vote-a-rama, where Senate Democrats will expose the truth about Republicans’ harmful scheme to cut health care and food assistance to provide billionaires with tax breaks, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) filed two motions to commit the bill back to the Senate Finance Committee and make revisions to protect against cuts to rural hospitals and medical research. Under the Senate Republican bill, $930 billion will be cut from Medicaid—in addition to more than $300 billion from the Affordable Care Act—resulting in rural and children’s hospital closures, shuttering of nursing homes, and 16 million Americans losing their health coverage.
“Today, Senate Republicans will attempt to pass a reconciliation bill that will rip away health care from 16 million Americans to give tax breaks to billionaires,” said Durbin. “Under this bill, our rural hospitals will close, forcing people to drive hours to the next nearest hospital for critical care. If you are a patient with ALS, Alzheimer’s, or cancer, the hope you have for a cure will be ripped away because of Republicans’ ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’”
“I hope Senate Republicans will take up my call to change the bill, but unfortunately their loyalty is to Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies—not Americans seeking critical health care,”Durbin concluded.
Durbin’s motions to recommit to Committee include:
- Eliminate provisions that cut Medicaid payments rural hospitals in Maine, Alaska, Missouri, Kansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, or West Virginia need to stay open; and would ensure big corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay a fair share in taxes.
- Eliminate provisions that would reduce funding that supports biomedical research into cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, congenital heart defects, and other critical conditions.
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