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Senator Hawley’s Medicaid Reversal Leaves Vulnerable Communities Behind

By lwilliams@semourbanvoices.com - August 28, 2025

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is drawing attention after reversing his stance on proposed cuts to Medicaid—a program that provides vital healthcare coverage to low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities across the state. Once a vocal critic of federal expansion and entitlement spending, Hawley through his ads announced his opposition to proposed federal rollbacks that would threaten Missouri’s already-strained Medicaid system.

After months of vocal criticism, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley ultimately voted in favor of the controversial GOP healthcare bill that includes steep cuts to Medicaid—despite previously signaling strong opposition. Alongside Alaska’s Senator Lisa Murkowski, Hawley’s “no” vote could have sunk the bill. Instead, he fell in line.

“For months before Hawley fell meekly in line last week,” wrote columnist Frank Bruni, “he sought and got enormous attention for being a holdout, a maverick, someone willing to tell the president uncomfortable truths… He sounded like a warrior — and a masculine one, at that! — manning the barricades. Which, inevitably, he abandoned.”

The legislation slashes billions from Medicaid, a program that supports more than 1 million Missourians—including children, the elderly, and many Black and rural families in Southeast Missouri. Hawley’s earlier posture suggested he understood the stakes: hospitals closing, families losing care, and rising health disparities. His retreat, however, leaves those very communities at risk.

In regions like the Missouri Bootheel and Southern Illinois—areas Urban Voices serves—access to Medicaid isn’t a political abstraction. It’s a matter of life and death. “We believed he was standing with us,” said a local health worker. “Now we know better.”

Urban Voices remains committed to lifting the voices of those most affected and holding elected officials accountable, especially when shifts in policy affect the most vulnerable. As healthcare, housing, and food security remain urgent issues for our communities, we’ll continue to track not just the headlines—but the impact behind them.

Politicians may pivot, but our communities still need answers—and advocates.

Follow us on Facebook @UrbanVoicesNews. Support the reporting that speaks up when others fall silent.

Senator Hawley’s Medicaid Reversal Leaves Vulnerable Communities Behind

Senator Hawley’s Medicaid Reversal Leaves Vulnerable Communities Behind

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