Senate Republicans say they are looking for ways to safeguard rural hospitals from proposed cuts to a key Medicaid funding method, amid concerns from the powerful hospital lobby and others that the budget reconciliation bill could force many facilities to close.

Senate Republicans are taking Medicaid cuts even further than their House counterparts with legislation that targets hospital payments.

The proposal would salvage some clean-energy tax credits and phase out others more slowly, making up some of the cost by imposing deeper cuts to Medicaid than the House-passed bill would.