ICYMI: Washington Post: “Republican Medicaid cuts could shutter rural hospitals, maternity care”

Rural hospitals across the United States fear massive Medicaid cuts favored by the Republican Party could decimate maternity services or shutter already struggling medical facilities in communities that overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON, DC – To pay for their tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations, House Republicans have proposed a menu of cuts to programs Americans rely on, including $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. These cuts would be a blow to already struggling rural hospitals and the Americans they serve. New reporting from the Washington Post outlines this impact on rural communities and their ability to access healthcare. 

Key facts from the Washington Post: 

“Nearly half of all rural hospitals nationwide operate at a deficit, with Medicaid barely keeping them afloat. Already, almost 200 rural hospitals have closed in the past two decades, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Rural hospital leaders in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas who spoke to The Washington Post warned that the enormous cuts congressional Republicans are weighing could further destroy limited health-care access in rural America. Proposals to slash up to $880 billion over 10 years — which is expected to be accomplished largely by scaling back on Medicaid — would also affect those who do not rely on the program but do rely on the medical facilities that are financially dependent on the program’s reimbursements… 

“Heart attack and stroke victims may lose crucial time being ferried by ambulance to big-city hospitals, health-care experts say. Rural nursing homes may vanish, straining families in the poorest of regions. Those who are pregnant may have no choice but to drive long distances for prenatal checkups and to give birth.

“The possible cuts are an ‘existential issue’ for rural hospitals, said Alan Morgan, chief executive of the National Rural Health Association. ‘Medicaid cuts are going to result in rural hospital closures,’ he said. ‘It’s just a question of how many.’”