JoAnna Mendoza Blasts Juan Ciscomani for Voting to Cut Rural Healthcare After Trump Admin Shortchanges Arizona Rural Hospitals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2026
Contact: [email protected]

Arizona to receive the sixth-lowest amount of any state

Ciscomani previously said he is a “force at the table” making sure Arizona gets its fair share of funding

RED ROCK, AZ – Today, candidate for Congress JoAnna Mendoza blasted Congressman Juan Ciscomani for his cuts to Arizonans’ healthcare in wake of a new report that showed Arizona would get a fraction of the rural healthcare funding it needs from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program. Ciscomani, who voted for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history in the Big Beautiful Bill, had previously said he would make sure that Arizona is prioritized in this funding as a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“Juan Ciscomani is too weak to stand up for us. Time and again, Ciscomani has done what his party told him to do instead of prioritizing the needs of our families. Rural Arizonans and people across this district are now paying the price,” said Jo Mendoza.

“Ciscomani said he’d be a ‘force at the table’ on rural healthcare funding; instead he got rolled and we’re the ones who pay the price. Rural Arizonans will pay even more, wait longer for care, and rural hospitals are being pushed to the brink. As someone who is raising my son in rural Arizona, this is personal for me. I’m disgusted at the cowardice on display here. In Congress, I’ll fight for Arizonans, and I’ll take on anyone who puts our healthcare, our livelihoods, and our families at risk,” Mendoza continued.

At least five rural hospitals in Arizona could close and more than 200,000 Arizonans are projected to lose their insurance because of Ciscomani’s vote to gut Medicaid to fund tax breaks for billionaires. According to the Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association, more than half of all hospitals in the state will start operating in the red – forcing many to cut services or close their doors altogether.

In Case You Missed It:

Arizona Republic: Feds shortchanged Arizona on rural health dollars, Hobbs’ office says (1/2/26)

• Arizona will receive $167 million for the 2026 federal fiscal year, the sixth-lowest amount of any state.
• The rural health fund has been widely criticized by Democrats because it pales in comparison to the size of the politically sensitive GOP-led Medicaid cuts.
• In Arizona alone the cuts will add up to more than a billion dollars annually when they go into effect in the late 2020s.
• Just five states received less money than Arizona: New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware and Massachusetts.
• An estimated 785,992 Arizonans live in rural areas of the state.
• Though Arizona received the sixth-smallest rural health award from CMS, it is the sixth-largest state in land area and seven of its 15 counties are classified as 100% rural.
• Between the Medicaid cuts and the rising marketplace costs, Arizona is preparing for its uninsured population to surge, further straining rural hospitals.
• Ciscomani, widely seen as one of the most electorally vulnerable members of Congress, has pointed to the fund to defend his vote in favor of the Trump-backed budget.
• He voted for the package even after warning during budget negotiations that some of the Medicaid cuts would hurt rural health providers in the state.
• Ciscomani, who sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, told reporters in August he was confident that Arizona would be prioritized in the rural health fund negotiations.
• “We have been a force at the table on this issue,” he said at the time.

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