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The Surprising Reason Rural Hospitals Are Closing (Time)
https://time.com/7298891/rural-hospitals-closing-explained-health-care/Spoiler:
“When you look at the data, what you see is that Medicare and Medicaid are not the problem,” says Harold Miller, president and CEO of CHQPR. “The problem is private insurers.”
How rural hospitals can succeed
A new owner has bought the Thomasville hospital’s assets out of bankruptcy, and Day says they plan to reopen the Thomasville hospital soon. He’s hoping they can do things differently this time so that they can figure out a way to keep the rural hospital from losing money.
One idea is to join a network with a big, urban hospital so they can more effectively negotiate reimbursement from insurers. Another is to create a network of rural hospitals that can band together to negotiate.
And Day is hoping that Congress will act. One bill, the Rural Hospital Stabilization Act of 2025, was introduced in April and would give grants to rural hospitals to help them stay out of the red.
Rep. Figures, Shomari [D-AL-2] (Introduced 04/29/2025)
...
“Every rural community in the country is facing this battle,” he says. “But closing hospitals is not an option. If you don’t have basic health care, you’re going to kill your community.”
A new owner has bought the Thomasville hospital’s assets out of bankruptcy, and Day says they plan to reopen the Thomasville hospital soon. He’s hoping they can do things differently this time so that they can figure out a way to keep the rural hospital from losing money.
One idea is to join a network with a big, urban hospital so they can more effectively negotiate reimbursement from insurers. Another is to create a network of rural hospitals that can band together to negotiate.
And Day is hoping that Congress will act. One bill, the Rural Hospital Stabilization Act of 2025, was introduced in April and would give grants to rural hospitals to help them stay out of the red.
Rep. Figures, Shomari [D-AL-2] (Introduced 04/29/2025)
...
“Every rural community in the country is facing this battle,” he says. “But closing hospitals is not an option. If you don’t have basic health care, you’re going to kill your community.”
Then again, one could give the rich, and big hospital chains tax breaks to buy hospitals and wring every dollar until the hospital fails again, and again, and again.
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