Estes Park (Colo.) Hospital would be forced to shut down in less than a year if the U.S. adopted a "Medicare for All" system, hospital CFO Tim Cashman told the Estes Park Trail Gazette.
Mr. Cashman told the Trail Gazette his prediction is based on industry research and advice from other healthcare leaders.
"If this were to become a reality, most of your rural hospitals will disappear because by definition, if you lose money for everything you do, then it won't take long to run out of money," he told the Trail Gazette. "All of our commercial patients will go away, everybody will be on Medicare and I won't be able to keep the doors open because I won't be bringing in enough money to pay for my staff."
A Navigant Consulting analysis found a Medicare public option could put up to 55 percent of rural hospitals at high risk of closure. The study was supported by the Partnership for America's Healthcare Future, an alliance of insurance companies, private hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that lobbies against "Medicare for All."
The study has received criticism since it was published earlier this month. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., who was appointed vice chair of the Medicare for All caucus in February, called it an "inaccurate lobbyist funded study," according to the report.
Read the full Estes Park Trail Gazette article here.
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