Hospitals Brace for Surge in Uninsured Ahead of Medicaid Change

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.

A loss of millions of insured patients ...