Rural Oklahoma health care programs impacted by shutdown

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Many Oklahoma hospitals have been scrambling to figure out how to continue to serve communities across the state, since some services connected to Medicare have been impacted by the government shutdown.

"There's so much interconnectedness in these programs," said Rich Rasmussen, Oklahoma Hospital Association.

Medicare, which is funded by law, will not be paused like SNAP benefits, but some of the services supported by Medicare will drastically change.

"There are some programs that are impacted that can impact rural health care," said Rasmussen. "One of which is called the low volume adjustment. Basically, what that means is it recognizes hospitals that do not have large volumes of Medicare patients."

Another service affected by the shutdown has been telehealth. It has been a popular option for many families living too far from immediate health care and seniors who find it difficult to make it to a clinic.

"That's a severing of an access point,” said Rasmussen. “If those telehealth services are no longer available, so then a rural senior might have to go someplace else or pay for it out of pocket."

The concerns have piled on top of ongoing fears from looming Medicaid cuts. More than $6 billion in federal cuts in the coming years were announced back in July.

Lawmakers at the State Capitol started talking about how the cuts would impact the state’s overall budget and Oklahomans' access to health care.

Currently, nearly 30 rural hospitals in Oklahoma are on the verge of closing their doors.

"For most of those communities, the hospital is the hub, it's the center, it's the main employer in town,” said Maggie Martin, while speaking before lawmakers at an interim study in October.

The association presented lawmakers with key concerns about the cuts.

"With the uncertainty, it does send shivers through health care leaders all across the country as to whether or not this is just a precursor for what could extend well beyond," said Rasmussen.

More than 6 million people used telehealth services last year.