Newsmakers: Medicare Cuts Threaten Rural Hospitals
Federal officials want to rewrite rules that now financially help 53 rural hospitals across Wisconsin care for Medicare patients– changes that would force many of those hospitals to close, according to five panelists in a Sept. 3 Newsmakers show. Rewriting rules for Critical Access Hospitals would force hospitals across the Midwest to cut or eliminate care of those 65 or older with critical medical issues, forcing them to go without care or drive long distances for it, the officials agreed. Panelists were Steve Brenton, president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association; Columbus Community Hospital CEO John Russell; Tim Size, executive director of the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative; Dr. Byron Crouse, an associate dean for rural and community health at UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and Republican State Sen. Dale Schultz, of Richland Center.
