Rural maternity care units facing severe risks

Salisbury, Md. – According to a new report out of Becker’s Hospital Review, rural maternity care is disappearing across the country at alarming rates.

According to the report, 139 rural labor and delivery units have closed or announced plans to close since 2020 and 41% of rural hospitals are still offering labor and delivery services.

AmeriTrust Solutions CEO Peter Justen, who is based in Virginia, a drop in health care coverage is what puts rural health care facilities in the most financial risk and it is imperative for patients to enroll in healthcare coverage.

“What happens in rural hospitals is, you know, Medicaid reimbursements are down. People are having a harder time qualifying and staying qualified because of the new changes,” he said. He said less people applying to enroll in Medicaid severely impacts rural health care facilities’ revenue.

Justen said maintaining continuous health coverage is crucial for rural patients, providers and communities. Yet many Medicaid beneficiaries continue to lose coverage for administrative and procedural reasons, he said, creating disruptions that can severely impact the revenue of “strained rural healthcare systems.”

“In rural communities where health care options are already limited, those disruptions have a much bigger impact because there may not be another provider that they can go to,” he said. “And the first thing that happens that they have to cut back services, and they usually start with maternity care.”

He said having access to resources to seeking out ways to retain coverage is essential in order, not only for patients to be able to afford services, but for providers to be able to afford to care for them.