'Guess I'll Just Die' Says Nebraska Rancher After Trump's Bill Closes Local Dialysis Unit - The Logical Leftist [View all]

Mark Pieper is a rancher in Hay Springs, Nebraska — population 599. For three and a half years, he drove 30 minutes to Chadron Hospital for dialysis three days a week. Then the unit closed. Now he drives 90 miles each way to Scottsbluff, a 200-mile round trip, just to stay alive.

His quote: "I guess I'll just bloat up and die in a month." Chadron Hospital lost $1 million a year on the service. Their Critical Access designation doesn't cover outpatient dialysis. Nebraska got $219 million from the new Rural Health Transformation Fund — but only 15% can go to actual patient care. The rest? Infrastructure, administration, technology upgrades.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says there are "plenty of able bodied people" on Medicaid. And KFF projects more than 14 million people could lose coverage when you combine these Medicaid cuts with the ACA premium tax credit expiration. This is what 37 cents on the dollar looks like.