Texas hospitals are losing $27M a day in Medicaid funding. Here’s why the Valley should care

Advocacy groups estimate that hospitals in Texas are projected to collectively lose $27 million a day in Medicaid funding under a new regime implemented by the President Donald Trump Administration. 

That estimate is based on the federal government’s decision to withhold from Texas roughly $9.8 billion over the next year across three key programs, the majority of which stem from the Comprehensive Hospital Reimbursement Program, according to a recent report by the Texas Tribune. 

The importance of Medicaid coverage for healthcare providers, from hospitals to family clinics and specialists across the Rio Grande Valley, is a key part of the local economy. Further disruption to the system could have trickle-down effects. 

Despite the $1.4 billion the federal government allocated to Texas for rural health transformation, that investment amounts to less money per rural individual compared to other states, and it does not replace the cuts to the Medicaid reimbursement system, according to calculations from Dr. Adrian Billings, a professor of rural health at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.