Over the past six years rural hospitals have been closing at a rate of nearly one per month, according to the Center for Rural Affairs. A hospital closure can be very hard on a rural hospital. But it doesn’t have to be this way, says the CFRA.
The closings have been especially widespread in the 18 states that have refused to expand Medicaid. Those states include Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
These hospital closures can be seen as the direct effect of policy decisions made by politicians. And those same politicians can choose to make different decisions, says Brian Depew of the CFRA. In fact, the choice of these 18 states to not accept federal dollars has left 5 million Americans without access to health insurance. That means taxpayers and hospitals pick up the bill when these people are injured or fall ill. By choosing to expand Medicaid programs, states would give an immediate boost to rural hospitals.
