Newport hospital not at risk of closing

NEWPORT – Newport Hospital and Health Services isn’t one of the hospitals likely to close if big cuts to Medicaid happen if a budget bill passed by the U.S. House becomes law, although hospital officials said changes to services would be likely.

“Like many hospitals, especially rural independent hospitals, we are concerned with the potential outcomes of the legislation passed in the House and the impact to local services if the Senate upholds it,” Jenny Smith, hospital district spokesperson said of the Republican-backed budget bill that passed the U.S. House May 22. “As we reported earlier this spring, that could mean changes to services offered locally, but we are not at risk of closing.”

She said that while Newport Hospital administrators agree that some Medicaid reform is necessary, this legislation, if enacted, will leave millions of people uninsured.

“The consequences of this legislation will affect individuals, families, hospital systems and communities,” Smith said. It will mean more spent by hospitals on charity care. Washington state laws require hospitals to offer charity care to individuals with inadequate means of paying for necessary medical care, people with incomes of up to 300% of the Federal Poverty Level, Smith said.

“Charity care directly affects our bottom line and, therefore, our ability to offer services to all patients, not just those currently on Medicaid,” she said. To put that in perspective — 2024 charity care was 84% higher than 2023 she said and as of April 30, 2025, year to date charity is $249,000 more than April 2024 charity. “This represents a 126% increase, more than double compared to April 2024.”

Washington state leaders are warning that at least 194,000 people in the state stand to lose Medicaid coverage under the budget bill, according to a May 22 Washington State Standard story.

The day before the vote, about two dozen Washington state Republican lawmakers, including 7th District Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy and 7th District Rep. Andrew Engell, R-Colville, sent a letter to Washington’s 12-member congressional delegation to avoid cuts that would imperil the state’s Medicaid program, known as Apple Health. The 7th District includes Pend Oreille County.

“We urge you to protect Medicaid,” they wrote in the May 21 letter. “We can’t afford to lose local health care resources, and our rural communities will not be able to ride out the economic shockwaves that are sure to follow if this program is significantly cut.”

Fifth District U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, served previously in the Washington state Senate. The 5th District includes Pend Oreille County. Baumgartner and the other Republican in Washington’s delegation, Dan Newhouse, of Sunnyside, both voted for it. No Democrats voted for the bill, which passed by a single vote.

Baumgartner posted to X after voting for the legislation.

“The American people are getting what they voted for,” he wrote. “House Republicans have unified and passed the One Big Beautiful Bill (215 Yes vs 214 No) Elections have consequences and the contrast between leadership in Washington DC and Washington state is stark.”

He wrote in that post that “the leftist Democrat Governor of Washington state signed into law the largest TAX INCREASE in our state’s history and joined his parties fight to protect criminal illegal immigrants. Republicans in Congress voted for the biggest TAX DECREASE in our nation’s history and delivered the improved BORDER SECURITY that was the deciding factor in the national election that returned Donald Trump to the White House.”

Newhouse and Baumgartner’s red districts have the highest proportion of Medicaid enrollees in Washington, according to the Washington State Standard story.

U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, also voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He Represents the 1st District, which includes Bonner County. In a statement following the vote, he said the bill is “… a once-in-a-generation bill that will make our government more efficient, lower costs by increasing domestic energy production, grow local economies through made in America investments, provide law enforcement with the resources to secure our homeland and finish the border wall, and put important government programs on a viable fiscal path long-term.”

If the Republican U.S. Congressmen representing Pend Oreille and Bonner counties are supportive of the legislation, the Idaho and Washington senators are split. Washington’s senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats, oppose the bill, while Idaho senators Mike Crappo and James Risch, Republicans, support it.

Smith is hopeful that there will be significant changes to the bill regarding Medicaid after it goes to the Senate.

“It’s my understanding that Republican Senators still have their work cut out for them,” she said, noting there is some opposition by a few GOP senators. Republicans control both the Senate and the House. The Senate is aiming to pass the budget reconciliation package before July 4.