Medicare Advantage will 'sink' rural hospitals, experts warn

From Modern Healthcare:

"Medicare Advantage is really an existential crisis threat," said Michael Topchik, executive director of the Chartis Center for Rural Health, who has worked with Floyd and many other hospital administrators. "It's not my words, it's the CEOs' with whom I work. That's what keeps them up at night."

Studies by Chartis and others paint the bleak picture for rural hospitals. According to a recent estimate by the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, about 700 rural hospitals are at risk of closing. A recent Chartis report estimated 167 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, with another 418 vulnerable to closure now.