Rural hospitals brace for Obamacre repeal

The health care law expanded Medicaid to tens of thousands of previously uninsured patients, providing new revenue streams for rural hospitals, which often serve a poorer, sicker patient population. The law also created a program that allowed some of these facilities to buy prescription drugs at a discount, though Highlands qualified for that program independently of Obamacare. "All these rural hospitals are operating on thin margins. The removal of any income source or coverage, or expansion of bad debt, is going to create significant financial hardship," said Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association. Nationally, the Medicaid expansion offered a bit of stability for some rural hospitals at risk of closure.Researchers say it disproportionately benefited such facilities — particularly here and other states with large rural populations, such as Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan.Daniel Martin, a 28-year-old Highlands patient who also works in the rafting trade said he uses his new coverage for his monthly blood medication. A Trump voter, he hadn't realized that coverage now could be in jeopardy.And small towns like this tend to be far sicker than the norm. In Fayette, more than 1 in 10 people is estimated to have diabetes. Out of 67 counties in the state, Fayette ranks 66th for health outcomes and more than a third of its residents are obese.