Establishing new grant programs for hospitals, especially for rural hospitals.
Reducing or eliminating optional Medicaid benefits such as dental and vision.
Cutting payments to providers.
Calling their legislature back into session.
These are among the moves states are considering in the wake of passage of the FY 2026 budget reconciliation bill that results in hospitals facing a loss of approximately 18 percent of their Medicaid funding over the next decade.
Learn more about some the Medicaid financial challenges states now face and how they are considering responding to them in the Stateline article “States scramble to shield hospitals from GOP Medicaid cuts.”