Analysis: rural hospitals are worse off in states that didn't expand Medicaid - Entrepreneur Generations

Rural hospitals all over the United States are struggling, but the worst off tend to be in states that didn't expand Medicaid after the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Rural hospitals in Texas are especially endangered; 21 have closed in the past six years, leaving 160 still open in one of the largest states in the nation.

"It’s not just Texas: Nearly a hundred rural hospitals in the United States have closed since 2010, according to the Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill. Another 600-plus rural hospitals are at risk of closing, according to an oft-cited 2016 report by iVantage Health Analytics," Michael Ollove reports for Stateline.

Medicaid has been expanded in 36 states and Washington DC. About 4 million more people would qualify if the program were expanded in the remaining states, according to a 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. That includes 1.2 million people in Texas alone. "An Urban Institute study in 2014 estimated that not expanding Medicaid would deprive Texas hospitals of $34.3 billion in federal reimbursements over 10 years," Ollove reports.

But Medicaid expansion might not be a silver bullet. It could "prop up inefficient and wasteful hospitals," said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. And some rural hospitals could stay solvent if locals approve increased property taxes, Ollove reports. Moreover, rural America would still face many health care issues even if Medicaid were expanded in all states, since rural areas tend to have an older, sicker and less-insured populace.

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2RYSSag Analysis: rural hospitals are worse off in states that didn't expand Medicaid - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

Tweet