The U.S. government shutdown, now 14 days into its duration, is creating significant concerns regarding the impact on telehealth services and rural healthcare access. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., is warning Democrats that their continued opposition to the GOP’s funding proposal is jeopardizing healthcare access, particularly for veterans and rural hospitals. Emmer emphasized that while telehealth services and the Acute Hospital Care At Home program expanded significantly during the pandemic, the current shutdown is preventing Congress from extending these critical programs.
Democrats have made it clear they will not agree to any solution without serious concessions on healthcare from the GOP. However, Emmer argued that the shutdown itself is harming healthcare access by denying certain telehealth services funding during the stalemate. He pointed out that rural areas, which often lack easy access to hospitals, have benefited from telehealth options. He questioned how hospitals and private providers can continue operating if they are not getting reimbursed for services like home-based care.
The government entered into a shutdown nearly two weeks ago on October 1 after Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s federal funding plan. They have since blocked consideration of the same bill six more times. Republicans proposed a seven-week bill extending fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels through November 21, aiming to give negotiators more time to strike a longer-term agreement on FY2026, which began on October 1.
The bill passed the House along mostly partisan lines on September 19, but Democrats in the House and Senate were largely infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks. They are now demanding any spending deal include an extension of pandemic-era healthcare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Additionally, Democrats introduced a separate counter-proposal that would completely eliminate healthcare reforms made in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and restore funding to NPR and PBS that the Trump administration revoked earlier this year.
Democrats have claimed the proposal is aimed at rolling back Republicans’ Medicaid cuts, but Republicans have positioned it as the left’s effort at restoring federal funding for illegal immigrants’ healthcare — though Democratic leaders have criticized this as a lie. Emmer also pointed out that it would revoke $50 billion for a rural hospital fund that the OBBBA put in place. He emphasized the importance of the Rural Health Care Fund to support hospitals in rural areas, where access to medical services is already limited, and underscored the uncertainty surrounding how deep the shutdown will impact these essential services.