Restoring Medicaid’s mission and protecting its future
Rep. Julie Fedorchak
Guest Columnist
When it comes to health care programs like Medicaid, North Dakotans deserve clarity - not fear. Unfortunately, the media has sown a lot of fear and spread a lot of misinformation about the Medicaid reforms in the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), leaving many people worried about cuts that simply don’t exist. So, let’s set the record straight.
Medicaid is a critical program. I’ve heard from people across our state who rely on it to care for aging parents, children and adults with disabilities, or expectant mothers in need. This landmark bill honors those needs. It strengthens Medicaid by restoring the program to its original mission: caring for the most vulnerable - seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income pregnant women - while cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse.
The truth about the changes is this: we will spend more on Medicaid tomorrow than we do today. Under this law, Medicaid spending is set to increase by 25 percent over the next 10 years. That’s a significant investment to ensure the program works better and remains available to those who need it most. It also includes a new $50 billion Rural Hospital Fund to help states like North Dakota strengthen care in small towns - supporting telehealth, emergency services, mental health care, and the recruitment of doctors and nurses. For a rural state like ours, that means more local control, more flexible tools, and better outcomes for the communities that often struggle most to access care.
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