ccjersey - 12/21/2025 17:22 Because they will have/do have to provide care for whomever shows up in the ER. Lots of people who have no insurance because they were “young and healthy” and those that can’t keep food on the table and gas in the car so they can go to work if they pay insurance premiums DO GET SICK OR INJURED. Folks that have no insurance generally avoid going to the doctor until it’s an emergency, so when they do arrive at the ER, their treatment costs a whole lot more than if they had been able to see a family doctor or nurse practitioner when the condition first arose. So the hospital that’s just barely scraping along doesn’t have to miss collecting much of their billings to go in the red. That only lasts so long. Rural hospitals are generally in the weakest financial health, so they are the first to go when Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates drop or the % of uninsured patients rises even slightly.