Democrats Jeopardize Health Care for Seniors and Rural Patients to Fund Benefits for Illegal Immigrants
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On October 1, Democrats shut down the government demanding funding for partisan woke and wasteful priorities, such as taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, critical health services for seniors, low-income families, and rural communities are left unfunded or disrupted.
Democrats have now voted ten times against a clean Republican continuing resolution (CR) to re-open the government. Among other impacted services, Democrats are blocking funding for essential health care programs, including:
- Telehealth for seniors — Access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries has been halted. More than 6.7 million older adults relied on telehealth last year, a critical tool for rural communities that enables virtual check-ups, prescription refills, specialist consultations, and post-surgery follow-ups.
- Local health clinics — About 1,500 federally funded health centers that serve millions of low-income Americans are cutting staff and services during the shutdown. These clinics are vital for rural and low-income communities.
- Other critical programs — Including diabetes research, payments to underserved hospitals, public health emergency funds, ambulance services, at-home care for seniors, antiviral drug access, and hospice data collection.
Instead of funding these services, Democrats are demanding $1.5 trillion in new spending—including as much as $200 billion in spending for health care for illegal immigrants; repealing key health provisions aimed at reducing waste, fraud, and abuse; funding millions to prop up woke, liberal news outlets; and stripping $50 billion from the Rural Health Transformation Fund included in H.R. 1—the largest investment in rural health care in U.S. history.
Republicans have passed and voted for a clean, nonpartisan CR that funds the government and protects these critical health programs while Democrats continue to play games with the lives and well-being of seniors, low-income families, and rural communities.
