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TexasTowelie

(111,322 posts)
Tue Nov 26, 2013, 07:49 PM Nov 2013

Rural Hospitals Struggling In Texas

Rural hospitals provide emergency and routine care for millions of people in Texas. But over the past few decades, their doors have been closing. The Affordable Care Act was supposed to help financially-strained rural hospitals stay open – but it doesn’t look like there will be much relief for those in Texas.

Hospitals in rural areas were relatively healthy up until the 1980s. But in that decade, and the one that followed, over 400 rural hospitals closed throughout the country.

David Lee, government affairs manager for the National Rural Health Association, says following the collapse, Congress essentially put rural hospitals on life support – funneling money through increased Medicare reimbursements for newly-designated critical access hospitals to slow the tide of closures.

Lee fears rural hospitals are in jeopardy again.


10 Things to Know About Texas Rural Hospitals – Prepared by the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH)

1. There are 183 rural hospitals in Texas out of 580 total licensed hospitals.*

2. Texas rural hospitals provide access to routine and emergency health care for 15 percent of the state’s population, but cover 85 percent of the state’s geography.

3. Texas has 80 Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) – a special Medicare designation for certain small rural hospitals with 25-or-less beds and at least 35 miles from another hospital (some exceptions on mileage separation). CAHs receive special reimbursement consideration from Medicare so they can remain financially viable even with lower patient volume

4. There are areas in Texas that are more than 100 miles away from the nearest hospital.

5. Texas rural hospitals are straining under the current reimbursement system having to layoff personnel and eliminate positions – 28 rural hospitals report 252 positions eliminated in the last few months.

6. Rural hospitals often cannot provide more profitable advanced services and medical procedures.

7. Rural hospitals treat older and poorer patients providing a higher percentage of Medicare and Medicaid services than urban hospitals – both of which often pay less than private insurance.

8. Rural areas in Texas have the highest levels of uninsured – some as high as 50 percent – while the Texas average is 26 percent. (14 of the 15 highest uninsured level counties in the country are Texas rural counties).

9. Rural hospitals comprise two percent of the overall Texas Medicaid budget and less than five percent of all Texas hospital related Medicaid payments.

10. More than 80 hospitals closed in Texas during the 1980s and 1990s, most of them were rural.


More at http://breakthroughs.kera.org/rural-hospitals-struggling-in-texas/ .

[font color=green]The article also examines the impact of the Affordable Care Act on rural hospitals.[/font]
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Rural Hospitals Struggling In Texas (Original Post) TexasTowelie Nov 2013 OP
Hospitals in Texas will be hurt by Goodhair's stupidity Gothmog Nov 2013 #1
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