More than 600 rural hospitals — or about 30% of all rural medical centers — are at risk of closure because they’re operating at a loss, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. And nearly half of those hospitals lack the financial reserves to cover more than two or three years of losses — meaning the risk of closure is imminent

The situation is particularly dire in states like Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas and Vermont

*** No other first world country would allow this to happen to their citizens. #OnlyintheUSA ***

"The primary reason hundreds of rural hospitals are at risk of closing is that private insurance plans are paying them less than what it costs to deliver services to patients. As shown below, although the at-risk hospitals are losing money on uninsured patients and Medicaid patients, losses on private insurance patients are the biggest cause of their overall losses."

This will only worsen healthcare disparities for underserved rural populations.

WHERE IS THE MANHATTAN PROJECT TO RESPOND TO THIS CRISIS?

This paper from the Center for Quality and Healthcare Payment Reform contains graphs and charts to show the size of the slaughter.