Evidence is incomplete or still developing; a future update may resolve it. Learn more in Methodology.
Verification of the CMS Office of the Actuary estimate that Medicaid spending on rural hospitals totaled $19 billion for 2024.
Available public evidence confirms that the White House repeatedly cited this figure and attributed it to the CMS Office of the Actuary, and independent fact‑checkers report that a White House memo said the $19 billion estimate and the underlying 7% share of Medicaid hospital spending for rural hospitals came from CMS’s Office of the Actuary. However, CMS has not publicly released the underlying actuarial estimate or any official document that independently confirms the $19 billion number or details how it was calculated. Because the key calculation appears to rest on internal CMS actuarial work that is not publicly available, the precise accuracy of the $19 billion estimate for 2024 rural hospital Medicaid spending cannot be independently verified from primary data, even though the attribution is consistently reported. The verdict is Unclear because the figure is plausibly sourced to CMS’s actuaries but the underlying estimate is not publicly documented or checkable.