Medicaid cuts could 'close maternity services and shutter struggling facilities' across rural America - Entrepreneur Generations

When a rural hospital closes, it hurts the entire
community. (Adobe Stock photo)

The massive federal Medicaid cuts currently under consideration "could devastate America’s teetering rural health care system," reports Lauren Weber of The Washington Post. "Rural hospitals across the United States fear [the cuts] could decimate maternity services or shutter already struggling medical facilities in communities that overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump."

Any significant cuts to federal Medicaid dollars will end in health care sacrifices for rural Americans. "Rural hospital leaders in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas warned that the enormous cuts congressional Republicans are weighing could further destroy limited health care access in rural America," Weber explains. Regardless of insurance status, the loss of a rural medical treatment center or clinic hurts all rural residents.

Benjamin Anderson, chief executive of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, which runs a rural hospital in Kansas, told Weber, “Every nickel matters. It will cripple and close the health-care delivery systems that serve everyone.”

Medicaid may have the reputation as urban population service, but the reality is that "rural children and non-elderly adults are more likely to rely on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program than those in metro areas," Weber reports. "Even if rural facilities manage to stay open but are forced to cut Medicaid-heavy services such as nursing homes or obstetrics care, more rural Americans — and Republican voters — will be left to deal with the consequences."

The president has "repeatedly said he will not touch Medicaid," Weber writes, "But he has also endorsed the House’s plan to find ways to cut spending across federal programs, which are expected to come out of the Medicaid program if lawmakers avoid cutting Medicare or Social Security."

Republicans have repeatedly promised Medicaid cuts that will reduce fraud and waste, but those reductions won't come close to the $880 billion in reductions Trump wants. Still, some believe that rural hospitals -- and the jobs they provide small-town economies -- will survive the cuts. Weber adds, "With broad support for rural hospitals, there are likely to be carve-outs to protect them in a Republican reconciliation bill, said Brian Blase, an influential voice in the Medicaid debate." 

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/KemX74w Medicaid cuts could 'close maternity services and shutter struggling facilities' across rural America - Entrepreneur Generations

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