Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) on July 15, 2025 introduced legislation to undo Medicaid cuts he voted to enact as part of H.R. 1., the 2025 Reconciliation Bill.

Hawley’s bill proposes to roll back the recently enacted limits on states’ use of provider taxes and state directed payments to increase state Medicaid financing flexibility. Additionally, the bill would double the five-year timeline (to ten years) and $50 billion investment in the Rural Health Transformation Fund in hopes of providing sustainability to rural health. Senator Hawley has a particular focus on rural hospitals, but the fund is broader.

With the ink barely dry on the hotly contested provisions in the reconciliation package where cuts to provider taxes were initially enacted, it is unclear if this legislation could move or if it was introduced for messaging purposes.

Senator Hawley’s press release is here and the legislative text is here.

LeadingAge supports the intent of the bill but is disappointed that Senator Hawley did not stop the cuts from being passed into law in the first place.