Kansas’ unrivaled rural hospital crisis—58% at risk of closing, 82% lost money on patient care

Kansas’ unrivaled rural hospital crisis—58% at risk of closing, 82% lost money on patient care
Kansas Reflector
December 12, 2023
Topeka, KS—Financial weaknesses at four of every five rural Kansas hospitals provide leverage to Medicaid expansion advocates who are eager for the infusion of $680 million annually in new government investment into the state’s health care system. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform says 84 of the state’s 102 rural hospitals recorded financial losses on patient services in the most recent year data is available. The health policy organization reports 59 of the state’s rural hospitals are in jeopardy of closing. Twenty-eight are at immediate risk of collapse. A health care delivery calamity has been building for years, as 10 of Kansas’ rural hospitals closed since 2005. ... “How much more evidence do we need that rural communities need our support to keep health care affordable and accessible?” said Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. Kelly said expansion of Medicaid eligibility to about 150,000 lower-income Kansans will narrow coverage gaps and throw a lifeline to hospitals and communities. ... “We can only judge the impact of not expanding Medicaid by looking at the states around us that have,” Kelly said. ... Administrators at hospitals in Kansas are urging lawmakers to break from the 10 Southern and rural states that—so far—reject Medicaid expansion.