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Tag Archives: rural hospital closures

Mark Alford (r): “Ask me no more questions, I’ll tell you no more lies…”

28 Wednesday Oct 2026

Posted by Michael Bersin in Congress, Mark Alford, social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

former newsreader, gaslighting, healthcare, Mark Alford, right wingnut, rural hospital closures, social media, sycophant, that ridiculous hat, Trump sycophant

Mark Alford (r) [2025 file photo]

Yesterday:

Congressman Mark Alford
[October 28, 2026]

SHOW-ME RESULTS šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø
After visiting nearly every rural hospital in Missouri’s Fourth District, I’ve seen firsthand just how important these facilities are to the communities they serve.
That’s why I introduced the Sustaining Rural Healthcare Act to give hospitals like Bates County Memorial a new pathway to Critical Access Hospital status, helping them remain financially stable and continue caring for families in MO-04. šŸ„
We’re fighting to protect our rural hospitals and make sure Missouri families continue to have access to emergency care close to home!
#ShowMeResults #WorkingForYou
[….]

Some of the responses:

Congressman, your voting record appears to have wandered out of the photo.
On July 3, 2025, you voted YES on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That law was projected to cut federal Medicaid spending by $911 billion over ten years, including approximately $137 billion in rural areas.
Now you’re posing at a rural hospital under ā€œSHOW-ME RESULTSā€ and asking us to admire your commitment to keeping the doors open.
Some of us read the roll calls between photo opportunities.
Your proposed Medicare reimbursement fix could help Bates County Memorial. Good. Pursue it. But explain how that squares with your vote for Medicaid reductions that put additional financial pressure on rural healthcare providers.
And before the predictable response about the $50 billion rural health fund: that money lasts five years, serves purposes beyond hospitals, and doesn’t fully replace the projected rural Medicaid losses. Putting some money back doesn’t make the larger reduction disappear. Arithmetic remains stubbornly unimpressed by campaign graphics.
Your post says you introduced legislation. Introducing a bill is a step. It isn’t evidence that a hospital has received additional reimbursement or that you’ve saved one from closure.
So here’s the question your post conveniently avoids:
How much funding do hospitals in your district stand to lose under the law you supported, and how much would your proposed bill actually restore?
Show us those numbers, Congressman.
You brought the photograph. Bring the accounting.

Over the last 10 years (2016–2026), 12 to 14 rural hospitals have closed in Missouri (out of 21 total hospital closures across the state during that span). Recent 2026 reports indicate that roughly 50% of Missouri’s remaining rural hospitals are considered at risk of closing due to workforce shortages, inflation, and federal funding pressures, with a significant percentage projected to face severe jeopardy within the next few years. Medicaid cuts are a major contributing factor.
Whats taken you so long to notice?
Herrera for Congress!!!

hmm, seems like maybe the Trump admin shouldn’t have dismantled all of the oversight bodies. We need to eliminate and prosecute fraud, not cut healthcare

Midterms Approaching Propaganda and significant self-promotion

ACA was implemented 16 years ago! I don’t understand why people keep blaming everything on it and not doing anything to change it!!

Before the BBBill they were in good shape
You broke them

Congressman Mark Alford
Bullshit MAGA Kool-Aid!
What about your vote and support for The Big Bullshit Bill?
I cast my vote today for Herrera for Congress šŸ—³ šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø
Be sure to look both ways before you go fuck yourself!

Did you tell them you voted to cut their funding???

Mark Awful, liar.

How did you vote on the big beautiful bill that takes away healthcare? Munchausen by proxy? I’ll make healthcare sick then pretend to nurse it back to health in an election cycle.

Markey Poo šŸ’©,
Do you ever read the comments after you post this garbage? You and your ilk are going down.
Vote Blue
Flush this turd down the toilet!

AGAIN INTRODUCED. That gets us nowhere. You’ve not stayed in session long enough to get anything done.

Revisionist history! Fox TV personality Marky Asswipe voted to cut healthcare for Missourians. Vote him out!!

Mark Awful, why don’t you tell your constituents what happens to Medicaid on Jan 1, 2027. Come on Mark, you voted for it.

Funny how Alford wants applause for introducing a bill to help rural hospitals after voting for Trump’s legislation that included Medicaid cuts which will expedite rural healthcare facilities closings.
You don’t get credit for putting out a fire while helping start it.
Vote for Jordan J Herrera.

Alford voted with Trump to cut Medicaid Medicare and insurance premium subsidies causing rural hospitals to close. This post is a lie . Vote him out vote Blue everybody.

So..
Bailing out hospitals your trump supporting agenda wrecks?..?
Weird.

This guy has such a dominant maga voter base that he just lies right to our faces

Bla,Bla,Bla lil’ boy!!!🤔🤔🤔🤮🤮🤮

I think Mark Alford didn’t read the Big Beautiful Bill before he voted on it.
One of the changes that Republicans won’t talk about is going to create an even worse doctor and nurse shortage in rural Missouri:
Graduate Medical Loan Changes
• Beginning July 1, 2026, Grad PLUS loans will be eliminated for new borrowers and new
lifetime borrowing caps will apply for medical school and nursing students.
[….]

Big Beautiful Bill? Remember voting for it and cutting healthcare? I remember!

Good morning to everyone except the incumbent politicians suddenly knocking on doors and begging for votes:
Years of ignoring your constituents. Seven days of pretending to give a fuck.
We’re voting you out.

Why are we inviting criminals into the United States?
A senior State Department official says Brazilian opposition candidate and Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro and his family will be granted U.S. visas after his weekend presidential election loss.
Bolsonaro had been ordered in Brazil to surrender his passports and said yesterday that he had no plans to leave his country, amid an investigation into alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.
[….]

Fascists get in for free.

How about holding Marco Rubio accountable?
On March 18, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed the reins of the US Agency for International Development to Jeremy Lewin, a 28-year-old graduate of Harvard Law School, former investment banker, and affiliate of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. At the time, Lewin’s appointment drew criticism because of his lack of experience in government, diplomacy, or foreign assistance. But for career staff inside the agency, the issues surrounding Lewin’s new role were much more alarming than his thin rĆ©sumĆ©.
For at least two months, USAID senior staff had no knowledge of how Lewin, who appeared at the agency one day as a policymaker on an obscure detail from the General Services Administration, could have suddenly begun wielding the powers of the agency’s top official.
Internal USAID emails reviewed by WIRED reveal that during the three-week period of March 18 to April 4, during which Lewin began canceling lifesaving aid programs and personally signed off on the termination of thousands of USAID employees, he did not sign the paperwork typically required by law to begin work at the agency, despite repeated requests. In fact, his appointment was so mysterious that USAID security was unable to issue him an ID card because they had no records of his employment.
[….]

Where’s my DOGE check? Can you check on that for us? Christmas is coming up soon.

expect it in about two weeks along with that healthcare plan they’ve been promising for 10 plus yearsšŸ˜‚

I wish you and all the government officials could live my (or any middle- or low-income people) lives. Then maybe you would understand what you and your buddies have done to the US!!!!! Shame on you.

You’re a little late. Our hospital has already shut down several departments and laid off lots of people!!!! Just because you want votes, you’re saying this!!!!!

Visiting another rural hospital for a photo op that you voted to close in the big bullshit bill?… Way to go sleepy mark!
[….]

Is that why you voted to cut millions from them through Medicaid and Medicare cuts?

After the midterms the $500 billion cuts to Medicare begin! The Republican Big Beautiful Bill is stealing your healthcare! šŸ˜”

Wwjd?
[….]

That’s super fantastic.
So, anything on the crippling prices of gas, diesel, groceries, health insurance or housing? How about a plan to help OUR farmers instead of enriching Argentina’s farmers with their uninspected mystery meat. Maybe a check on the out of control corruption? Perhaps a sound plan to stop the needless war that trump started? Epstein files? Anything at all?
[….]

So, is everybody ready for the 2026 version of “Stop The Steal”? I wonder if Gym Jordan and the other maga dirtbags have their bullhorns and posters out of storage yet. I do hope they try it again, would love to see what happens this time.
[….]

Mark Alford (r) [2024 file photo].

Medicaid expansion? What Medicaid expansion?

03 Monday May 2021

Posted by Michael Bersin in Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Senate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

21st Senate District, Denny Hoskins, Medicaid expansion, missouri, rural hospital closures

The Rural Health Safety Net Under Pressure: Rural Hospital Vulnerability
February 2020

[….]

States in the Southeast and lower Great Plains have borne the brunt of the closure crisis. States experiencing the highest number of rural hospital closures since 2010 include Texas (20), Tennessee (12), Oklahoma (7), Georgia (7), Alabama (6) and Missouri (6). Our analysis shows that hospitals located in states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion have lower median operating margin and have a higher percentage of rural hospitals operating with a negative operating margin (see Figure 2). Of the eight states with the highest levels of closures since 2010, none are Medicaid expansion states.

[….]

Similarly, states with the highest number of ā€˜at risk’ facilities are Texas (36), Kansas (19), Missouri (15), Nebraska (14) and Mississippi (13). While Nebraska has seen only one rural hospital close since 2010, Missouri has lost six and Kansas and Mississippi have each lost five.

[….]

Denny Hoskins (r) [2017 file photo].

What the right wingnut controlled Missouri General Assembly spends its time on – an email update from Denny Hoskins (r):

District 21 Capitol Report, Week of 04-29-2021
Denny Hoskins
Week of April 26, 2021

Fighting the Fight

This week one of the most anticipated bills of the 2021 legislative session came up for debate in the Senate chamber. The initial discussion on Senate Bill 39, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, went as might be expected. Proponents of the bill (which I am proudly one of) argued the measure is necessary to protect the rights of Missourians in the face of gun control proposals from the current administration in Washington, D.C. The bill would exempt Missouri from any federal laws that restrict the right to keep and bear arms in violation of the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions. Opponents of the bill held the floor with inquiries and amendments. This went on for several hours before the sponsor laid the bill on the informal calendar. I’m confident we’ll have another opportunity to pass SB 39 (or the House version) before the end of session on May 14. It won’t be easy, and I’m bracing for a hard-fought effort to overcome opposition if we’re going to get this through to the finish.

Also this week, the Senate debated my Senate Bill 98. A comprehensive package of legislation relating to gaming in Missouri, the bill is the result of five years of work and compromise. I have met with any and every party willing to come to the table to negotiate a regulatory framework for gaming in our state. Fellow legislators, regulators, concerned citizens and businesses of all sizes have consistently been willing to work with me in this endeavor.

I believe the measure I presented to the Senate this week would finally address the proliferation of illegal gaming machines across Missouri, while providing increased opportunities for the state’s residents to participate in games and place wagers in a legal, regulated gaming environment. The legislation would authorize a system of video lottery terminals, and bring sports bets out of the shadows. Together, these activities could provide more than $200 million in new revenue for education and veteran’s programs in our state.

I am disappointed the discussions surrounding SB 98 eventually reached an impasse on the Senate floor. However, I am not discouraged. I believe Missourians desire safe, legal and fair gaming opportunities and I am convinced our schools and veteran’s facilities could benefit greatly from these activities. I will continue to work with anyone willing to engage in honest, productive discussions about ending illegal gambling in our state and replacing it with regulated games that benefit all Missourians.

In other legislative action, my Senate Bill 152 received a ā€œdo passā€ recommendation from the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. This bill brings Missouri’s 529 education savings program in line with federal 529 plans and also expands gifted education programs in local schools. I’m hopeful the full House will approve this bill, and we can get it sent to the governor’s desk.

Finally, the Senate approved its version of the state budget this week. Next week, the differences between the House and Senate appropriations bills will be sorted out by a conference committee, with members from both chambers. A final version of the Fiscal Year 2022 operating budget will need to be approved by the full General Assembly prior to 6 p.m. Friday, May 7. All eyes were on the Senate chamber Wednesday night to see whether we would appropriate money for Medicaid expansion. We did not. I joined with 19 other members of the Senate to vote to defeat Medicaid expansion. My vote to oppose the increase is consistent with the will of the voters of my district, as well as my promise to oppose Medicaid expansion that I made to voters in 2016 and 2020.

[….]

From the Missouri Secretary of State:

State of Missouri – Primary Election, August 04, 2020
Constitutional Amendment No. 2 [Medicaid expansion] 3575 of 3575 Precincts Reported
YES 676,687 53.275%
NO 593,491 46.725%
Total Votes: 1,270,178

It’s now in the Missouri Constitution.

For right wingnut republicans that doesn’t matter, it’s all about the cruelty.

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