Josh Riley Leads $500M Push to Save Rural Hospitals on Chopping Block After GOP Budget Cuts

The GOP’s corporate tax giveaway is expected to leave over 34,000 residents in New York’s 19th District without health care and further endangers hospitals in Harris, Oneonta, Hudson, and Margaretville at risk of closing.

In an effort to keep these critical Upstate hospitals afloat, Riley is co-sponsoring the Rural Hospital Stabilization Act, a bipartisan lifeline that would deliver up to $5 million in funding per hospital to help struggling facilities keep their doors open and continue caring for Upstate families.

In NY-19 alone, Garnet Health Medical Center has already been forced to lay off over 40 employees and cut vital health care programs as a result of Republicans’ devastating cuts. Riley is fighting to prevent hospitals like Garnet from shutting down completely, stating that “rural communities shouldn’t lose their hospitals just because Washington politicians chose to hand out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations.”

Read more on Riley’s efforts:

• Following $50 billion worth of cuts to Medicaid under H.R. 1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, Congressman Josh Riley is looking to keep rural hospitals afloat.
• Riley is now co-sponsoring the Rural Hospital Stabilization Act, legislation that would provide $500 million in emergency support to rural hospitals.
• The act would award grants of up to $5 million per hospital over five years to repair and modernize facilities and equipment, while also covering operating costs.
• Bassett Healthcare, a network that serves about 750,000 patients across an eight-county region in central New York, said this would provide an essential capital boost.
• Riley emphasized the importance of keeping these rural hospitals well-funded.
• “Rural communities shouldn’t lose their hospitals just because Washington politicians chose to hand out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations,” said Riley. “This bipartisan bill is a lifeline. It will help keep the doors open, keep care close to home, and make sure families in upstate New York aren’t left behind.”

• U.S. Rep. Josh Riley is pushing a bill that, if enacted, would provide $500 million in emergency support to rural hospitals struggling under cuts in the GOP-backed “Big Beautiful Bill,” his office said.
• Riley, D-Ithaca, who represents the 19th Congressional District, said he has co-sponsored the bipartisan legislation, known as the “Rural Hospital Stabilization Act.”
• “Rural communities shouldn’t lose their hospitals just because Washington politicians chose to hand out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations,” Riley said in a statement. “This bipartisan bill is a lifeline. It will help keep the doors open, keep care close to home, and make sure families in Upstate New York aren’t left behind.”
• The bill authorizes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office of Rural Health Policy, to award grants of up to $5 million per hospital over five years.
• According to Riley’s office, the funding can be used to repair and modernize facilities, equipment, and systems, and cover essential operating costs — including payroll and debt service — to prevent shutdowns.

• Congressman Josh Riley is co-sponsoring new bipartisan legislation to deliver $500 million in emergency aid to rural hospitals at risk of shutting down due to federal budget cuts.
• The Rural Hospital Stabilization Act of 2025 (H.R. 3063) comes in response to what Riley called “devastating” cuts made by the GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The legislation would provide grants of up to $5 million per hospital over five years to help struggling facilities stay open.
• Riley has made rural health care a priority in Congress, backing multiple efforts this year to protect small-town hospitals. 
• His office says he’s helped submit $55 million in local health care funding requests for 2026 and co-sponsored legislation to improve Medicare reimbursements for rural providers.

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