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BumRushDaShow

(154,201 posts)
Tue May 20, 2025, 08:55 AM May 20

Hundreds of rural hospitals are at risk of closing, threatening critical care [View all]

Source: msn/CBS News

12h


Hundreds of hospitals in rural parts of the United States are in danger of closing because they can no longer afford to stay open, according to a new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. The main reason: Insurance companies pay them much less than their big city counterparts for the same services.

In Trinity, Texas, about 90 miles north of Houston, Midcoast Medical Center recently had to close its doors. "It has a huge impact on the community. We will lose lives. Four hundred people a month come here," Marjory Pulvino, who runs the hospital's board, told CBS News. In the East Texas Piney Woods, Midcoast was more than a building. It was a lifeline where babies were born and where the heart of Cathy Courtney's 90-year-old husband was restarted, saving his life.

Courtney said she and her husband had used the facility "about six times in the last 14 months." Midcoast officials told CBS News the closure was driven by the same factors that have closed other rural hospitals: low reimbursement rates from elderly patients' Medicare and Medicaid coverage, which made up most of the hospital's budget. Hospitals in urban areas, meanwhile, get significantly more reimbursement from their patients who have private insurance, which tends to pay more.

Republicans' proposed cuts to Medicaid could leave more than 8.5 million people uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and force even more rural hospitals to close. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform's report found that 742 rural hospitals are at risk of closing, with over 300 of those being classified as being at "immediate risk."

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hundreds-of-rural-hospitals-are-at-risk-of-closing-threatening-critical-care/ar-AA1F5Ii0

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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How many more bdamomma May 20 #1
Rural hospitals are very dependent on Medicaid. surfered May 20 #2
And the GQP are upset that Medicaid... Lovie777 May 20 #5
Very true and Medicaid pays pennies on the dollar of real cost of treatment. Medicare is more generous. dutch777 May 20 #7
Isnt rural America trump country? XanaDUer2 May 20 #3
Tragically ironic, isn't it? surfered May 20 #11
Some ppl gotta touch the flamr XanaDUer2 May 20 #13
Exactly! hamsterjill May 20 #14
I was a doctor in a small/25k Texas town. carpetbagger May 20 #24
Well said XanaDUer2 May 20 #25
OMG! ananda May 20 #21
Democrats need to hammer affordable healthcare, affordable housing, affordable college, and affordable groceries. OrlandoDem2 May 20 #4
Harris/Walz BumRushDaShow May 20 #10
They don't care Keepthesoulalive May 20 #27
We do. It doesn't matter when you have 40 years of right wing propaganda 24/7. HappyLarge May 20 #28
Republicans want to cull the herd. Plain and simple. Let the poor and frail die. Diamond_Dog May 20 #6
Herd immunity and with more money comes more immunity...or as we used to say... surfered May 20 #12
it is called eugenics DBoon May 20 #16
If only these people could understand that it is the GOP doing this to them. travelingthrulife May 20 #8
TFB Du916 May 20 #9
They watch Faux Noise and listen to hate radio. Justice matters. May 20 #19
This will probably affect our little local hospital Bayard May 20 #15
Sorry for this, but GOOD! Grins May 20 #17
Nothing Will Change Falcon101 May 20 #20
Way to go, Red State America. Aristus May 20 #18
A lot of rural areas in the United States are essentially Medical Deserts. patphil May 20 #22
Yes, it's very difficult as it is to get doctors to practice in such areas fujiyamasan May 22 #29
Improper Framing modrepub May 20 #23
How many Americans will they kill in four years? Irish_Dem May 20 #26
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