Rural Hospitals: Praising Temporary Fix After Voting for Permanent Cuts

Healthcare Source: Public Statements CONTRADICTION

Why This Matters for NY-23

Westfield Memorial Hospital in Chautauqua County operates at a -59.1% margin — losing money on every patient. UPMC Jamestown and other regional hospitals face similar pressures. When the congressman who voted for $155 billion in permanent Medicaid cuts celebrates a $50 billion temporary fix as “historic investment,” the math doesn’t work for hospitals already on the edge. NY-23 could lose the emergency rooms and maternity wards that rural families depend on.

Statement

Source: Public statements to constituents, Late 2025 Reported by: Observer Today (Dunkirk-Fredonia), Local news coverage

Rep. Langworthy hailed the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) as a historic achievement:

“One of the largest federal investments in our history to support rural healthcare”

He dismissed warnings that local hospitals might close as “all pure fiction,” specifically rejecting concerns raised by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about potential closures of Westfield Memorial and UPMC Jamestown hospitals in NY-23.

Congressional Record

2025 - “One Big Beautiful Bill” (Budget Legislation)

  • Langworthy vote: YES
  • Action: Voted for sweeping budget bill that cut Medicaid funding to rural areas
  • Impact: Bill reduced federal health funding to rural areas by an estimated $155 billion over 10 years (Kaiser Family Foundation analysis)
  • Result: Created the crisis that required emergency Rural Health Transformation Program funding
  • Source: Observer Today, Western NY AFL-CIO analysis

Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP)

  • Amount: $50 billion in temporary relief
  • Problem: Replaces only one-third of the $155 billion in permanent cuts from the budget bill Langworthy supported
  • Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Observer Today

Context

The Sequence

  1. Langworthy votes for budget bill with $155B in rural Medicaid cuts over 10 years
  2. Rural hospitals face financial crisis from reduced federal funding
  3. Congress passes $50B temporary Rural Health Transformation Program
  4. Langworthy touts RHTP as “historic investment” without mentioning his vote caused the need for it

Local Impact

According to healthcare analysts:

  • 25 rural hospitals in New York State (51%) are at risk of closure
  • 16 hospitals could close within 2-3 years without sustained funding
  • NY-23 facilities including those Langworthy called “fiction” to worry about are among those at risk

What Constituents Said

Observer Today (Dunkirk-Fredonia):

“Not everyone would be willing to go out in the rain and tell us temporary funding for rural hospitals that offsets only one-third of permanent funding cuts is a win.”

Governor Kathy Hochul’s office analyzed that the GOP bill would lead to $8 billion in cuts to New York’s hospitals and health systems.

The Math

  • Permanent cuts Langworthy voted for: -$155 billion over 10 years
  • Temporary relief he celebrated: +$50 billion
  • Net impact: -$105 billion to rural healthcare

In Plain Language

Here’s what happened:

  1. Langworthy voted for a bill that cuts $155 billion from rural Medicaid over 10 years
  2. Rural hospitals started struggling because they depend on Medicaid for 25-30% of revenue
  3. Congress passed a $50 billion temporary fix called the Rural Health Transformation Program
  4. Langworthy called this “historic investment” — without mentioning his vote caused the need for it

The math: -$155 billion + $50 billion = -$105 billion net loss for rural healthcare.

When he calls concerns about Westfield Memorial and UPMC Jamestown “pure fiction,” he’s dismissing warnings about hospitals that were already struggling — and that his votes made worse.

Sources

  • Observer Today (Dunkirk-Fredonia): Andrea Hatfield, “Rural hospital funding far from restored” (Dec 1, 2025)
  • Western New York AFL-CIO: Peter De Jesús Jr., “Langworthy and Tenney Just Sold Out Western New York” (May 22, 2025)
  • Governor Kathy Hochul Press Release: “By the Numbers: ‘Big Ugly’ GOP Bill Devastating NY Health Care” (July 1, 2025)
  • Kaiser Family Foundation: Analysis of Medicaid cuts in budget legislation

Note: This entry documents publicly available information from official sources, news reports, and independent healthcare analyses. Readers may draw their own conclusions.

Last updated: December 21, 2025