Millions of Americans are likely to lose Medicaid coverage this year. That’s bad news for hospitals as well as patients.
Hospitals will likely see bad debt soar when a pandemic-era rule expires allowing states to kick patients off Medicaid April 1, according to a January report from Moody’s Investors Service. The rule had encouraged states to keep beneficiaries continuously enrolled — regardless of eligibility — in order to receive higher reimbursements. Once states start trimming their rolls, however, hospital revenue is expected to decline as health-care providers will need to assume costs from an expected wave of uninsured patients.
