Most states closing numerous rural hospitals rejected Obamacare

[True Dough]

Roughly 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas, including more than 13 million children, according to the last U.S. census. And, according to research and reporting by the Pittsburg Morning Sun and its parent company, GateHouse Media, those people have been steadily losing access to hospitals for years.

In Oklahoma, Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi, at least 52 percent of all rural hospitals spent more money than they made between 2011 to 2017. In Kansas, it's 64 percent, and five hospitals there shut down completely in that time. Since 2010, 106 rural hospitals have closed across the country. (Another 700 are "on shaky ground," and about 200 are "on the verge of collapse," according to Gatehouse.) Of those 106 that closed, 77 were in deep red states where local politicians refused the Obama administration's Medicaid expansion that came about as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

In short, the federal government provided funds to expand coverage for Medicaid, a program that helps pay for health care for low income patients. But the expansion was optional, and 14 Republican-controlled states rejected to take the money. The only state that bucked this trend was Utah, where rural hospitals were among the most profitable in the country thanks to a policy of shifting funds and resources from urban hospitals. Only 14 percent of rural hospitals operated at a loss and none shut down over the same time period.

he number of rural hospitals has been shriveling for some time now: more than 200 rural hospitals closed between 1990 and 2000, according to a report from the Office of Health and Human Services. Since rural areas have been losing hospitals for decades already, every additional closure is more devastating. And even the hospitals that remain open are struggling to stay fully staffed. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, rural parts of the U.S. need an additional 4,022 doctors to completely close their coverage gaps.

https://www.gq.com/story/rural-hospitals-closing-in-red-states

[procon]

1. Republicans aren't very good at simple math.

Without that extra money the hospital closures were baked in. This was a deliberate decision by Republican ideologs who valued their petty party politics more than the lives of their citizens, or the business and employees involved, as well as the loss of state revenues.

[Voltaire2]

3. Hmmmm....

So it seems that our for profit system has a shortage of both doctors and hospitals. Those are both alleged reasons why we have to stick with this system and not replace it with MFA.

[SharonAnn]

4. And, don't forget Tennessee. Hospitals closed and several on the brink of closure.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Something to add to this story

that is not being mentioned. Most of these Rural Hospitals are adjacent to or are the primary ER for Convalescence and long term Health Care Entities. The trend since 2000 was to Build out Nursing Care and Elder Care homes in many of the Rural County Seat Towns that had Hospital Facilities,which in turn was a employment boom for those Towns.

And as someone mentioned,yah,the end Customer for these Facilities are mostly Retired Farmers or Ag related People who tend to support the Rethug Party. Not all,but most.

[area51]

6. Texas also

has rural hospitals closing.

[moondust]

7. And rural depopulation

in the age of big business. Before Reagan/"greed is good," corporate farming, Walmart, Amazon, etc., family farming and owning a small business in a small town were more viable. Now after a few decades of the children of small farmers and store owners moving to the city for college, job opportunities, and social life, many small town main streets are boarded up. Just a matter of time until the rural hospital closes due to a lack of patients.

[Crunchy Frog]

8. Well, those people (mostly) got what they voted for, and they get to "own the libs".

That seems to be the priority in Red America.

[Johnny2X2X]

9. This is crushing poor rural people

I know people in rural Northern MI who have seen their local hospitals shuttered. It's a huge deal if you are battling chronic illness.

I have a good friend who's fully disabled and barely scraping by to eat. He now has to drive 40 miles to visit his doctor, and because they won't give him enough pain pills to manage his many sources of pain, he has to visit the doctor more and more frequently. He's got a truck that barely runs and he he can't afford to fix it because he's paying on hospital bills.

He's a disabled vet, and it gets harder and harder for him every year. They just took his food stamps away and he's fighting to get them back because he thinks it was a mistake.

[True Dough]

10. Those are horrible circumstances

I wish the best for your friend. Trumpy is striving to lessen health care access and food stamps for all kinds of people while giving tax breaks to his rich friends.

[Johnny2X2X]

11. Every time I talk to him he seems less alive

This is a guy who did everything right, he joined the Navy out of high school and served in combat in 2 different conflicts. He learned a skilled trade while in the service, got out and worked hard. His problem was an untreated back injury, and untreated PTSD while in the military. His body and his mind just got worse and worse until he was no longer healthy enough to work in his late 30s. He was deemed fully disabled about 12 years ago, and here's how careful he was then, he was able to buy a small house in rural Northern MI and used his monthly payments so wisely that he paid it off completely in less than 10 years. He was getting by until about 5 years ago when they came after his benefits. They reduced his food stamps, so he grew a garden for vegetables and raised rabbits for meat even as his health worsened. Then his heart had problems and he suffered a few small heart attacks. His mobility is almost down to nothing now, he can barely walk to and from his kitchen. And he's had several rides to the hospital in an ambulance. They nickel and dime him to death every time he gets sick, just about the time he gets caught back up, he gets sick again. It's a miserable existence and he's just about done having the will to live.

He will absolutely not allow me to do a go fund me page for him, but I throw him some cash when I can.

These are the people Trump and the Cons are hurting.