Obamacare Not Helping Rural Hospitals

(H/T Call Me Mom)

A man in Linden, Texas had to be taken to a nearby hospital.  After being released, he learned that the hospital would soon be closing.  From MSN News:

In January, Linden, Texas native Richard Bowden suffered a mild stroke. Within minutes, medics had taken the 68-year-old to the local hospital emergency room, less than a block from his house.

“They checked me out real good,” said the former city councilor, whose East Texas community of nearly 2,000 has relied on the Linden hospital since the 1960s.

Shortly after returning home, Bowden learned he would outlast the hospital itself: the facility was about to close because there weren't enough patients. “It blindsided me,” he said. “It's 15 miles to the next hospital. Out in the country, that seems like a long way.”

The environment faced by rural hospitals is difficult, and has been worsened by Obamacare.

Now the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is bringing additional pressure. Obamacare is designed to fold the poor and uninsured into the healthcare system, but changes in how the federal government pays for the disadvantaged are already pressuring the hospitals that cater to them, such as rural ones.

Looks like you can't keep your doctor, you can't keep your insurance plan, and you can't even keep your local hospital.  Read the full story.