Kentucky Rural Residents Getting What They Voted For

Glasgow, Kentucky (just outside Mammoth Cave National Park) is proud Trump country. Its home county of Barren gave 76% of its vote to President Donald Trump last year.   The rural town of about 15,000 is 78% white, with a per capita income of around $29,000. It’s the kind of place that has long benefited from subsidies generously funded by Democrats, blue states, and urban areas. Between 1995 and 2024, Barren County received more than $67 million in farm subsidies, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

But rather than support the party supporting them, Barren County went for convicted felon Donald Trump. And now, thanks to the orange man's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill', the town of Glasgow is losing its all-inclusive elder care facility.  “We [were] told that this [facility] is closing down on November third due to Medicaid not letting people in fast enough,” one patient told a local news outlet. “Don’t let it close. We need our family. We need our group. Please don’t let this Horizon close. There’s too many of us that want to stay here.”

When Republicans run the country like a business and brag about cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse,” it turns out that rural health services are what get labeled wasteful—an “abuse” of resources provided by the more economically productive parts of America.  Democrats don’t believe in running the country as a business. We believe everyone deserves dignity and equal treatment. But we were outvoted—by the very people who’ve benefited most from that generosity.

But this sad story if just a preview of what’s coming for Kentucky’s rural population.  One hospital executive warned that the Big Beautiful Bill—supported by the entire Kentucky GOP congressional delegation—will cost the state’s hospital system $15.1 billion in lost revenue.   And a KFF study found Kentucky will be hit harder than any other state, losing over $10 billion in funding over the next decade. Unfortunately, that estimate came from an early draft of the bill. The final version slashed Medicaid even deeper.  Had Kentucky gone for Democrat Kamala Harris last year, Glasgow’s elder care facility wouldn’t be in danger. 

But that’s not the reality we live in. Glasgow is getting what it voted for.