Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mark Warner, D-Va., are urging the Trump administration to outline its plans for protecting rural hospitals from cyberattacks amid what they called the “largest healthcare cuts in American history.”
In a letter sent July 21 to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, the lawmakers raised concerns that the Republican-backed budget proposal — often referred to by Democrats as “Trumpcare” — would undermine cybersecurity efforts at small and rural hospitals by slashing federal healthcare funding.
“‘Trumpcare’ will harm the cybersecurity resiliency of rural and small hospitals just as this administration has chosen to gut cybersecurity operations at HHS,” Sens. Wyden and Warner wrote in the letter.
The senators argued that smaller healthcare providers, already operating with tight margins, would be even less likely to invest in cybersecurity as they absorb cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. They also questioned how the administration plans to support these facilities in meeting federal cybersecurity standards and whether a proposed rural health transformation program will meaningfully address security needs.
According to the release, the program’s funding is minimal compared to the more than $1 trillion in Medicaid and ACA cuts included in the budget bill.
Hospitals in rural areas are especially vulnerable to cyberattacks, the senators noted, because of their limited resources and the essential nature of the services they provide, such as emergency care. These hospitals are often more likely to pay ransoms in the event of an attack to avoid service disruptions, the letter said.
Last year, Sens. Wyden and Warner introduced legislation aimed at bolstering federal cybersecurity requirements across the health sector. The senators cited independent analysis estimating that more than 330 rural hospitals are at risk of financial distress or closure due to the proposed Medicaid cuts.
A full copy of the letter is available on Sen. Wyden’s website.
