It looks like just a matter of time before the local healthcare community sees the full impacts of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

With trillions in cuts to Medicaid and to reimbursements through the Affordable Care Act, rural hospitals are likely to face steep hikes in uninsured patients who can’t pay for their necessary care.

At Bradford Regional Medical Center and Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital, both Kaleida Health facilities, no immediate changes are on the horizon but what the future holds is uncertain, hospital officials said.

“Kaleida Health has been and continues to evaluate the impact of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on our operations and services. The proposed cuts will force Kaleida Health — along with hospitals and healthcare systems in our region, state and country — to make many hard decisions in the coming weeks, months and years,” said Joseph Fuglewicz, spokesman.

The impacts are going to be universally felt in rural areas, he said.

“The consequences of this new law will cause harm to all by reducing healthcare service and access,” Fuglewicz continued. “Millions of people will no longer have access to healthcare coverage. These same people will still need access to emergency healthcare and will be welcomed in our facilities, but we will not be paid for the services they receive.”

Rural hospitals were begging for help before this most recent budget bill came along.

“This new law will have a massively negative impact on already struggling rural hospitals,” Fuglewicz explained. “Rural hospitals have been closing at an alarming rate over the past decade and the enactment of this bill will only exacerbate the problem.”

The bill, signed into law July 4, does include a five-year $50 billion relief fund for rural hospitals.  “While this may seem like enough money to provide the needed funding for rural hospitals, it’s not,” Fuglewicz said. “National analysis points to rural hospitals losing between $58 billion and $155 billion under this new law.”

Moving forward, Kaleida has to increase funding for uncompensated emergency healthcare services. To do that, “Kaleida Health will be forced to make difficult decisions regarding potential cuts, elimination of services and even staff reductions throughout all our hospitals and facilities,” he continued. “We will make these decisions with the communities we serve in mind to ensure they have the services they need most.

“We continue to advocate to our local, state and federal advocacy groups as well as elected officials to help find solutions to the challenges we face and protect our region’s healthcare organizations,” he said.

“As always, we remain focused on providing the highest quality, patient-centered care that our community deserves.”