With the swipe of a pen, President Donald Trump signed what could be a death sentence to some rural hospitals.
“Any small change in Medicaid could have a big impact on our bottom line,” Tri Area Community Health CEO James Werth said.
The cuts mean around 300,000 Virginians could lose their health insurance, leading to fewer patients at rural hospitals or clinics like the Tri-Area Community Health Center in Ferrum.
“I was sort of mentally calculating ok how many people might not qualify for Medicaid moving forward. What do we need to do to try to make up for this lost revenue,” Werth said.
Werth says these cuts mean almost $500,000 in lost revenue for the Ferrum clinic alone, leaving officials there with some tough decisions to make.
If we can’t figure out a way to make up for that, then our staff is at risk, our service lines are at risk, even a site might be at risk.
According to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association’s Vice President for Communications, Julian Walker, that number soars to almost $2 billion in lost revenue statewide. The consequences of this could be deadly.
“If we hadn’t been there in those instances, then there could’ve been a death. If we aren’t here in the future, then that same thing might happen,” Werth said.
Walker says the impacts of these potential closures will affect more than just the patients themselves.
“There is the potential for an economic ripple effect not just to the direct hospital organization, to its stability and survival, but to the employment it provides. To the financial support it provides in the community, as an employer, as an organization that has relationships with other business entities,” Walker said.
The bill did leave $50 billion in funding for rural hospitals, but Walker says that’s not guaranteed.
“Even if all that money went to rural hospitals, it still wouldn’t come close to closing the gap of the Medicaid funding losses that are contemplated in the package,” Walker said.
Congressman Morgan Griffith (R) voted in support of the bill. He doesn’t feel the cuts will be as drastic as many say.
" There’s not one thing in that bill that affects the regular Medicaid population. So not a single disabled person is going lose their Medicaid benefits," Griffith said.
He did, however, acknowledge the struggle of some rural hospitals.
“Will there be some hospitals that are at risk? If they’re having bottom line problems now, it does create some issues and we’re going to have to pay attention to it and figure out ways that we can make things better,” Griffith said.
The bottom line, he says, is this makes the system more efficient. The full effect of these cuts won’t fully be felt until 2027, when these funding and rule changes take effect.