Langworthy’s “Yes” Is a “No” to Hospitals

Langworthy’s Vote Sends Rural Hospitals into Cardiac Arrest

Western New York Congressman Nicholas Langworthy (R-NY23) cast one of the most consequential votes of his short congressional career. And if you live in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, or Allegany County, you might feel it next time you or a loved one needs a hospital.

Langworthy voted yes on Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (actually, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). Among the provisions in this bill that will hurt people in NY23 is a $1.02 trillion cut to Medicaid.

And what does Langworthy’s district get in return for his “Yes: vote to gut Medicaid? The death of rural medicine.

Thanks to the deep Medicaid cuts packed into Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” as many as 700 rural hospitals across America are now facing closure. That’s not a typo. That’s one-third of all rural hospitals in the country that are at risk of closing.

And 300 of those hospitals are already in critical condition. According to the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, they are at immediate risk of shutting down. 

Langworthy was warned. Loudly. He just didn’t care.

Which Hospitals Are Tanking in NY-23?

Want to know what Langworthy’s vote cost? Start with these hospitals—all in his own backyard—now facing closure thanks to deep Medicaid cuts.

According to the Sheps, hospitals at immediate risk of shutting down meet two  criteria:

1. Three straight years in the red.

2. Heavy dependence on Medicaid

Here are four hospitals in NY-23 that check both boxes.

Westfield Memorial Hospital (Chautauqua County)

• Operating Margin: –59.1%

• Medicaid Revenue: 23%

• Status: Only 4 inpatient beds left. Being downgraded to outpatient/ER-only.

UPMC Chautauqua at WCA (Jamestown)

• Operating Margin: –17.4%

• Medicaid Revenue: nearly 37%

• Status: At direct risk of full or partial shutdown.

Upper Allegheny Health System (Olean General + Bradford)

• Operating Margin: –31.1%

• Medicaid Revenue: 19%

• Status: Deep in the red. On borrowed time.

Schuyler Hospital (Montour Falls)

• Operating Margin: –23.1%

• Medicaid Revenue: 17%

• Status: Financially unstable and now federally abandoned.

These aren’t “underperforming businesses”. They’re lifelines. And Langworthy voted to cut the cord.

But it doesn’t stop with those four. At least nine more hospitals in NY-23 are losing money and are at risk, including:

• Brooks-TLC Hospital System

• Jones Memorial Hospital

• Cuba Memorial Hospital

• Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital

“Wasteful Spending”? Try “Critical Healthcare.”

Langworthy and his Republican colleagues love to rant about “fraud, waste, and abuse” and about saving Medicaid for the “truly needy.” At the same time, elected representatives like Langworthy, get “Cadillac” health insurance courtesy of the taxpayers. 

Out here in rural New York, Medicaid isn’t waste. It’s the only thing keeping hospitals open. And it’s the only health insurance many people have.

Without Medicaid, communities lose their emergency rooms, maternity wards, and, in some cases, they lose the only hospital for 40 miles.

Rural Health Transformation Program

The Rural Health Transformation Program in the OBBB allocates $50 billion in ‘relief funding’ to address financial stress in rural hospitals caused by the massive Medicaid cuts. However, the actual Medicaid shortfall exceeds $1 trillion.  

Hospitals must apply for competitive grants, meaning many hospitals will receive little or nothing. It shifts the burden from guaranteed Medicaid reimbursements to short-term project grants.

Policy analysts agree that the Rural Health Transformation Program is laughably underfunded to address the extensive needs caused by the Medicaid cuts in the OBBB.

It’s a public relations stunt intended to mitigate the public anger at the devastating Medicaid cuts.

However, the Rural Health Transformation Program is not enough to keep rural hospitals open, especially hospitals like Westfield Memorial or UPMC Chautauqua. They depend on steady Medicaid funding to keep the doors open, not financial gimmicks.