Americans’ health care is under attack. Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have rammed through the largest health care cuts in American history, gutting critical funding that keeps hospital doors open, emergency rooms staffed, and maternity wards running while handing massive tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. The result is a GOP-created health care crisis: hundreds of hospitals on the brink of closure, countless others preparing deep service cuts, and millions of health care workers facing the loss of their jobs.
Protect Our Care’s Hospital Crisis Watch is tracking the harm Donald Trump and Republicans’ spending bill is inflicting on American health care in real time – community by community, hospital by hospital. Read more about the disaster the GOP budget bill has created for hospitals here and what hospital closures will mean for you below.
Protect Our Care launched Accountability Autumn, a nationwide campaign calling out Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers for their health care disaster The campaign features the following theme weeks:
- September 2-7: Summer from Hell: Republicans Take Heat for Their War on Health Care
- September 8-14: Week of Action: Premium Disaster Watch
- September 15-21: The Trump-GOP Health Care Disaster: Ripping Coverage Away from Millions
- September 22-28: The Trump-GOP Health Care Disaster: Hospitals in Crisis
Hospital Closures Mean Higher Costs, Longer Wait Times, and Lower Quality Of Care For You and Job Losses and More Economic Turmoil For Your Community
- Hospital Closures Increase Costs For People With Insurance. GOP policies will kick over 15 million Americans off their coverage, increasing the burden of uncompensated care and driving up health care costs for everyone – regardless of where they get their coverage. Emergency rooms will become packed with patients who are unable to pay their bills due to loss of health coverage and will result in hospitals dealing with an estimated $63 billion in uncompensated care. The financial burden of uncompensated care will likely then get passed on to others through higher bills and increased premiums, increasing costs for everyone. Health care costs will also spike for everyone as rural hospitals close, driving up costs at nearby facilities by an estimated $500 per hospital stay. Everyone will pay the price because Republicans put tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations above the needs of working people.
- Hospital Closures Lead to Avoidable Deaths and Lower Quality of Care. Hospital closures mean crowded emergency rooms, fewer patient beds, and greater patient mortality. The closure and consolidation of hospitals means hospitals have fewer competitors and fewer incentives to maintain or increase the quality of care patients receive. Research found patients living in less competitive hospital markets experience greater mortality for the same conditions than those who live in more competitive markets. When hospitals close, remaining facilities struggle with higher patient volume and are forced to speed up time spent with patients to manage at the expense of quality of care. Studies have also found local hospital closures are also correlated with longer hospital stays for patients. Hospitals are both closing and consolidating due to the financial pressures created by the GOP-led largest health care cuts in history.
- Hospital Closures Increase Wait Times For Ambulances and the Emergency Room. Over 330 hospitals are at immediate risk of closing or scaling back their services. In September, a Colorado hospital shut down their emergency department after the GOP gutted over $400 billion in critical hospital funding. When hospitals or emergency departments close, emergency cases are diverted to other hospitals leading to longer travel times for ambulances, overcrowding in emergency rooms, and longer waits to see a doctor. Studies find that ambulance transport times increase by 11 to 16 minutes following a rural hospital closure – a life or death difference for patients having a stroke, heart attack, or internal bleeding. In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, ambulance transportation times skyrocketed by 400 percent following local hospital closures. Some hospitals cite a 27 percent increase in emergency department patient volume after the closure of nearby facilities, meaning excruciating wait times before patients can get the care they need as well as worse health outcomes.
- Hospital Closures Mean Mothers Are Forced to Travel Farther to Give Birth and Seniors Are Forced to Travel Farther For Surgery. GOP health care cuts are estimated to put over 140 labor and delivery units at risk of closing their doors. Seven labor and delivery units have already been forced to shutter since the passage of the Big, Ugly Bill in July. By passing the largest cuts to health care in history, Republicans are putting moms and babies farther away from the care they need. Seniors in need of surgery will also have to travel farther and wait longer to get critical care due to the GOP’s Big, Ugly bill. Overwhelmed emergency departments also mean longer wait times to receive surgery – whether it is a coronary bypass to treat a heart attack or an emergency appendectomy. Delays in surgical treatment often result in higher likelihood for complications and greater mortality.
- Hospital Closures Lead to Job Losses, Unemployment, and Economic Turmoil. Hospitals are the sixth largest employer in the country. By gutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, Republicans are undermining an industry that drives job creation, to hand out tax breaks to the ultrawealthy. An estimated 477,000 health workers will lose their jobs as a result of GOP cuts to Medicaid. Hospitals employ 10 percent of all employees in rural counties. When rural hospitals close, communities can lose a staggering number of jobs, both within and outside of the health care sector. Studies find unemployment rates increased by up to 3.1 percent following rural hospital closures in a community. Job losses can have a negative impact on the local tax base and shrink the resources available for schools and other public services, and make it difficult for communities to attract new employers and jobs – leading to widespread economic turmoil for communities at a time families are already struggling with a rising cost of living and new tariffs.