Rural, Smaller Hospitals Relied Heavily On Covid Relief To Survive, Study Suggests

More than $170 billion in Covid-19 relief funds the federal government allotted to struggling hospitals during the Pandemic helped healthcare facilities stay afloat by offsetting major financial losses due to the coronaviruses, according to a new study.

The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act allowed healthcare facilities to maintain their profits for years before the outbreak of the coronaviruses.

Hospitals lost an average of $7 to $8 for every $100 earned from patient care in 2020, compared to $1 in the first year of the epidemic, according to a study.

Some of the most vulnerable healthcare facilities saw increased profit margins thanks to the help of the CARES money.

Ge Bai, an author of the study and professor at the Department of Health Policy and Management, said in a statement that Covid-19 relief funds provided a lifeline to keep financially struggling hospitals up and running.

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$55 billion. Kaufman Hall estimates how much income hospitals nationwide were expected to lose in 2021.

Hospitals took a financial hit as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic as they were forced to delay more lucrative procedures and appointments while taking on new costs to treat a flood of patients who were uninsured. Many of the small, rural hospitals that were struggling financially before the Pandemic had the most severe financial impacts as they care for a disproportionate number of patients covered by Medicaid, Medicare or the Children's Health Insurance Program. $175 billion in emergency funding was approved by Congress in 2020. One of the first investigations into the impact of money on hospital operations was done by JohnHopkins.

Hospitals in less-vaccinated areas are struggling to stay afloat.