Michigan hospitals face federal cuts, nurses warn, as Medicare for All push grows

Community hospitals play a central role in people’s lives at the moments when care matters most. They are where children are born, and they are where families turn in emergencies, including after strokes, when every second can matter. In Michigan, however, advocates say federal health care cuts now place that kind of lifesaving access at risk.

That warning comes from Jamie Brown, RN, and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who argue that working people are coming together to demand a different approach to health care, one that puts patients before profits and moves toward Medicare for All. In their view, the stakes are especially high for communities that rely on local hospitals for everyday care and emergency services.

Their concern centers on the Trump Administration’s 2025 budget bill, H.R. 1. According to the source material, the bill cut nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal health care programs. The money was redirected to fund billionaire tax breaks and wars abroad. Brown and El-Sayed say the impact of those cuts is expected to be felt after the midterm elections later this year.

They argue that the consequences will not be abstract. The source says 10 million people across the U.S. are projected to lose their insurance by 2034 as a result of H.R. 1. Hospitals that depend on Medicaid and Medicare funding are also said to face serious risk, including possible service reductions or closure.

Beacon Kalamazoo Hospital, formerly Ascension Borgess, is highlighted as a local example. The hospital is described as a critical part of the health care system in Kalamazoo County. It has a 24/7 emergency room, a Level II trauma center, and a comprehensive stroke center, making it an important resource for nearby residents.

The source cites 2024 figures from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, noting that Beacon Kalamazoo had 46,017 emergency room visits, admitted 11,019 patients, and delivered 442 babies. Brown and El-Sayed say those numbers show how much care the hospital provides to the community and how much could be lost if funding pressures continue.

According to an analysis of Medicare Cost reports and Definitive Healthcare reports by National Nurses United, Medicare and Medicaid account for half of Beacon Kalamazoo’s net patient revenue. The American Hospital Association Annual Survey also found that nearly 85 percent of the hospital’s patients are covered by Medicare and/or Medicaid. Based on that information, NNU estimates that federal health care cuts could reduce Beacon Kalamazoo’s income by between $9.6 million and $15 million each year.

The authors say that amount of lost revenue could threaten the hospital’s ability to function. They frame the cuts as a choice that takes resources away from community care and directs them elsewhere, asking how hospitals are supposed to keep serving patients when the funding that kept them open has been removed.

If Beacon Kalamazoo were to close, patients would need to seek care at Bronson Methodist, which is about two miles away. But the source says Bronson’s emergency department already deals with long wait times. In 2024, eight percent of patients left the emergency department before being seen, compared with a two percent national average. Brown and El-Sayed say Bronson’s ER would struggle to absorb the extra patients who would otherwise go to Beacon Kalamazoo.

The concern is not only about emergency care. The source says Bronson does not offer some of the medical service lines available at Beacon Kalamazoo, including electrophysiology, psychiatry, and rehabilitation. Beacon Kalamazoo is also described as having the only dedicated psychiatric emergency department in the area. The loss of that service would be particularly troubling, given that the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services has noted rising mental health needs among the population.

Brown and El-Sayed say Beacon Kalamazoo is only one example of the wider effect of federal cuts to public health funding. They note that NNU and multiple other organizations have identified hundreds of at-risk hospitals across the United States, including in Michigan.

In response, National Nurses United has launched a Red Alert: Save Our Hospitals tour. According to the source, nurses will visit communities across the country in 2026 and beyond to raise alarms about hospitals they say are vulnerable. The tour is scheduled to stop at Bronson Park in Kalamazoo on June 13, where the authors say they will speak out in support of Beacon Kalamazoo.

The message from the growing coalition of health care workers, patients, and working families is direct: they want the cuts in H.R. 1 reversed. They also call for policies that put care and health before profit for billionaires. For Brown and El-Sayed, the answer is a broader fight for guaranteed health care through Medicare for All.

They conclude that Michiganders deserve a healthy future and say the movement will continue to organize in solidarity with working people everywhere to build a society that benefits everyone.