LACONIA – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan toured HealthFirst Community Health Center in Laconia and talked with health care providers about the impacts of the Republican budget bill signed into law by President Trump. The Republican budget bill takes health care away from tens of thousands of Granite Staters and makes massive cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. HealthFirst has already announced the upcoming closure of its health clinic in Canaan, due in part to the federal Medicaid cuts that President Trump signed into law.
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WMUR: Providers warn rural community health care is at risk under cuts to Medicaid in federal budget
Rural access to health care is shrinking in New Hampshire. Providers are preparing for cuts from the recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill.” Senator Maggie Hassan toured HealthFirst in Laconia today. The CEO there saying 30 to 40 percent of the patients’ bills are paid through Medicaid. So, changes in Washington are already affecting services as they brace for these cuts.
Ted Bolognani, CEO of HealthFirst: “One of the things we just really recently did is we were closing one of our health care facilities. We’re cutting services, having to stop both our primary care and behavioral health services at our Canaan location.”
And with these cuts totaling almost a trillion dollars over the next decade, doctors say the rural health care system, through federally qualified health centers, will be at risk of financial collapse.
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