Why does America have uninsured (for healthcare) people when the federal government has infinite dollars? It makes no sense at all.More than half of hospitals in rural Miss. facing closure Leaders at the publicly owned Greenwood Leflore Hospital in Greenwood, Miss., say they will be out of business before the end of the year without a cash infusion. Rogelio V. Solis/AP By Michael Goldberg Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. — Over half of Mississippi’s rural hospitals are at risk of closing immediately or in the near future, according to the state’s leading public health official.
Dr. Daniel Edney, the state health officer, spoke to state senators at a hearing last week about the financial pressure on Mississippi hospitals. Edney said 54% of the state’s rural hospitals — 38 — could close.
Rural hospitals were under economic strain before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the problems have worsened as costs to provide care have increased.
Mississippi’s high number of low-income uninsured people means hospitals are on the hook for more uncompensated care. At the same time, labor costs weigh on hospitals as they struggle to pay competitive wages to retain staff.
Does anyone care? Do the Republicans who run Mississippi care?“The costs on an income statement for a hospital have skyrocketed,” said Scott Christensen, chair of the Mississippi Hospital Association Board of Governors. “The liabilities on the balance sheets of hospitals around the state have reached some unsustainable levels given what we face.”
The crux of the problem facing Mississippi’s hospitals is that revenues have not kept pace with rising costs, Christensen said.
The strain is most acute in Mississippi’s Delta region, an agricultural flatland where poverty remains entrenched. Greenwood Leflore Hospital has been cutting costs by reducing services and shrinking its workforce for months.
But the medical facility hasn’t been able to stave off the risk of imminent closure. Hospital leaders say they will be out of business before the end of the year without a cash infusion.
At Greenwood Leflore and other hospitals across the state, maternity care units have been on the chopping block. Mississippi already has the nation’s highest fetal mortality rate, highest infant mortality rate and highest preterm birth rate, and is among the worst states for maternal mortality.
This is the same -old, same-old trope that poor people are lazy takers, and giving them help will make them even lazier. It is a vicious lie promulgated by the richer to keep the more destitute down. It is the classic expression of Gap Psychology, in which the richer want to widen the Gap between them and the poorer.A rising number of healthcare deserts are emerging in the Delta, but financial pressures are bearing down on hospitals in more prosperous areas of the state as well, experts at the hearing said.
But hospitals in poor communities often treat patients who don’t have insurance and can’t afford to pay for care out of pocket. An expansion of Medicaid coverage would reduce costs that result from uncompensated care.
Gov. Tate Reeves and other Republican leaders have killed proposals to expand Medicaid, which primarily covers low-income workers whose jobs don’t provide private health insurance.
Opponents of expansion say they don’t want to encourage reliance on government help for people who don’t need it.
It’s a Band-Aid, as are Medicaid, Obamacare, and Medicare. They all should be merged to provide comprehensive, no-deductible, 100% coverage, fully government-funded, no taxes healthcare insurance for every American of every age and every income. No exceptions. Finally, it isn’t “socialism.” The rich falsely chant “socialism” every time a benefit for the not-rich is mentioned. But socialism is government control, not government funding. With real Medicare for All, the government only would take over funding from the for-profit insurance companies. All Medical decisions would remain with your doctors and hospitals. It is a disgrace of American politics that we don’t already have it. Rodger Malcolm Mitchell Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm MitchellAs a near-term solution, the Mississippi Hospital Association has suggested the state’s Division of Medicaid work with federal officials to raise the Medicaid reimbursement rate cap.
The move would lower the cost of providing care for people who are already covered under the state’s current Medicaid plan.
……………………………………………………………………..
The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.
MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY
