Republicans bragging about ‘fix’ for rural crisis they made far worse: ‘Bald-faced lies'

With the U.S. midterm elections less than two weeks away, Republicans across the country are posturing as defenders of the country’s ailing rural healthcare system even as hospitals and providers nationwide buckle under the financial strain imposed by President Donald Trump and the GOP’s unprecedented cuts to Medicaid.The advocacy group Protect Our Care said Wednesday that Republicans in key congressional races “are touting bald-faced lies” by highlighting their support for a $50 billion rural health fund that pales in comparison to the roughly $900 billion in Medicaid cuts that Trump signed into law last summer. The health policy organization KFF estimates that the Republican law will cut $137 billion in Medicaid spending for rural areas over the next decade.Protect Our Care calls out multiple Republicans by name for misleadingly promoting their support for rural health funds, including Sens. Roger Marshall of Kansas, Jon Husted of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine,...