Rural Texas hospitals warn of more cuts as costs rise, Medicaid shrinks

On Monday morning, rural hospitals asked for a lifeline in Austin. Rising costs, patients moving to urban areas, and new federal budget cuts are threatening healthcare access in small towns.

Impacts are already being felt in North Texas. Two healthcare facilities in Hunt County closed this month—the freestanding emergency rooms in Commerce and Quinlan, operated by the Hunt County Memorial Hospital District. Closing the locations and laying off 43 employees will save $15 million annually, the district said.

“Increasing supply and labor costs, the growing number of uninsured patients and declining payments from insurance companies and government payers have stretched the organization financially,” the hospital board wrote in a statement.

“The uninsurance and the underinsurance rate really