Only 15 hospitals have taken up the new rural emergency hospital designation, and 10 of them are in the southern part of the country, The Washington Post said in an Oct. 23 report.
Of the 15, 10 are in Republican-leaning states that have rejected Medicaid expansion, with clusters of facilities in the same region.
"There is a definite correlation there," said Carrie Cochran-McClain, DrPH, chief policy officer at the National Rural Health Association.
The REH designation, which went into effect Jan. 1, requires rural hospitals to give up their inpatient services in return for heftier government reimbursement payments. State legislatures must pass legislation to approve the regulation of such a designation.
The designation is not seen as a panacea, according to the report, with one hospital in Texas closing its doors Oct. 12, six months after receiving the REH tag. Hopes remain that St. Mark's Medical Centre in La Grange may be able to reopen.
Some hospitals potentially looking for the REH designation want to see changes in the program, including making REHs eligible for the federal government's 340B drug discount plan.