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... But those dollars are now in jeopardy, as President Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress move to shrink the nearly $900 billion health program that covers more than 1 in 5 Americans.
Desoto CEO Todd Eppler said Medicaid cuts could make it harder for his hospital to repay the loans and for patients to access care.
"I just hope that the people who are making these decisions have thought deeply about it and have some context of the real-world implications," he said, "because it's going to affect us as a hospital and going to affect our patients." ...
One of the decision-makers is Eppler's representative in Congress: House Speaker Mike Johnson, who lives about 35 miles north of here. He said he knows the Republican leader and his staff understand hospitals' plight: The mother of Johnson's chief of staff is CEO of a rural hospital in the district.
"I've never met a congressman yet that wanted a rural hospital in their district to close, and certainly Mike is no exception to that rule," Eppler said. ...
Last year nearly 290,000 people in Johnson's district were enrolled in Medicaid, about 38% of the total population, according to data compiled by KFF, the health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.
About 118,000 of them are in the program thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which allowed states including Louisiana to expand Medicaid to cover low-income adults, many of whom were working in low-paying jobs that don't provide health insurance.
Louisiana ranks second in Medicaid enrollment, at nearly 32% --- a reflection of the state's high poverty rate. ...
