REP. WINDLE: “Medicaid Expansion Would Ease Rural Hospitals’ Burden”

This week we learned Clay County would lose yet another rural hospital, putting Tennessee into the double digits and cementing our place as the per capita leader in rural hospital closures.

Last night WSMV ran a piece on the situation, visiting with citizens, EMT’s and local officials to hear about the strain this would now put on the community.

One man talked about how his wife would likely not be alive today had he not been able to bring her to Cumberland River Hospital when her lung collapsed.

While rural hospitals have been under stress for years, the data shows clearly that rural hospitals closures are happening more in states that have refused to accept the federal medicaid expansion dollars.

As Rep. John Mark Windle says:

“Medicaid expansion would ease the burden of rural hospitals.”

And as you can see in the piece, local resident Carol Abney agrees.

$6 Billion and climbing. That’s what this purely political decision on the part of Republicans has cost us.

If President Trump wanted to send us $6 Billion to fix are roads, you can bet the same legislators rejecting Obama’s Medicaid Expansion plan would be taking it in a heartbeat.