Between RFK Jr and Trump, they are making America a much worse place to be healthy
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The healthcare advocacy organization Protect Our Care has been tracking financially troubled hospitals across the country that are projected to take a big hit thanks to the Medicaid cuts in the massive Republican budget package—and the group has produced a new tool to let people see the damage being done in real time.
The organization on Wednesday launched a new project called "Hospital Crisis Watch" that identifies and provides updates on healthcare facilities around the country at risk of closure thanks to the Medicaid cuts, and produced an interactive map showing exactly which hospitals and medical centers are in danger.
Protect Our Care found that the most vulnerable facilities tend to be in rural areas, identifying 338 endangered rural hospitals throughout the U.S.
Kentucky has the largest concentration of vulnerable hospitals with 35, followed by Louisiana at 33, and California at 28.
In a report about the threats these hospitals face, Protect Our Care explained why Medicaid funding, which the GOP budget package slashed by $1 trillion over the next decade, is vitally important to these institutions' financial well-being.
"Hospitals count on Medicaid to keep their doors open," the report said. "Medicaid accounts for one fifth of spending on hospitals, one fifth of hospital discharges, and at least one in five inpatient days in nearly every state."
The report also pointed to an analysis from the Commonwealth Fund estimating that more than 475,000 healthcare workers would lose their jobs as a result of the cuts. This would have serious economic ramifications for rural areas given that "hospitals employ 10% of all employees in rural counties that report having any hospital employment," explained Protect Our Care.