U.S. Senate Democrats Identify 3 Michigan Hospitals At Risk Of Closure

The Detroit Free Press brings us a dated story from the U.S. Senate Democrats' attempt to spike the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/07/09/cuts-to-medicaid-could-lead-to-4-michigan-hospitals-closing/84518782007/

https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-leader-schumer-wyden-merkley-release-data-detailing-hundreds-of-rural-hospitals-across-us-at-risk-due-to-republican-health-care-cuts

Here's why 3 rural Michigan hospitals are deemed 'at-risk' of closing
By Tom Ackerman & Lynne A. Fort - July 9, 2025
Springfield State Journal- Register

*    U.S. Senators raised concerns about the impact of healthcare cuts on vulnerable rural hospitals in a letter to President Trump.
*    The reconciliation bill, now signed into law, is projected to cut $1 trillion from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act insurance plans.
*    Senators argue the cuts will lead to rural hospitals not getting paid for services they are required by law to provide to patients.

This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.

Three rural hospitals in Michigan are defined as "at-risk" of closing, according to a reputable center for health services research.

The list of the rural hospitals from each state was released after U.S. senators requested the information from the center and then attached it in a letter to President Donald Trump, among others.

Here are the hospitals named in Michigan and why they are in the limelight.

How is "at-risk" defined?

A rural hospital is labeled as at risk when it meets one or both of two criteria, according to the documents: the hospital is in the top 10% Medicaid payer mix of rural hospitals across the country, and that the hospital has experienced three consecutive years of negative total margin.

What hospitals are at-risk in Michigan?

Here are the three hospitals deemed at-risk in Michigan:

McLaren Central Michigan
Carson City Hospital
Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital [no longer an Ascension hospital]

The list also includes Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital, which closed in April 2024.

What center for health services research released the info?

The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research is part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The center, according to their site, seeks to improve the health of individuals, families, and populations by understanding the problems, issues, and alternatives in the design and delivery of health care services.

What was the purpose of the letter?

U.S. Sens Edward J. Markey, Ron Wyden, Jeffrey A. Merkley, and Charles E. Schumer wrote to President Trump, Majority Leader John Thune, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in response to the reconciliation package that ultimately Trump signed on the Fourth of July. They sent the letter on June 12.

The senators argued that the health care cuts could impact vulnerable, rural hospitals.

"Enacting these drastic health care cuts that will kick millions of people off their health insurance coverage, rural hospitals will not get paid for the services they are required by law to provide to patients," authors wrote, adding that the hospitals will face "deeper financial strain that could lead to negative health outcomes for the communities they serve."

What will the legislation do?

The bill, now signed into law, is projected to cut $1 trillion mostly from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act insurance plans and eliminate insurance coverage for 11.8 million people over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as reported by USA Today.

Just over 26% of Michigan’s population is enrolled in Medicaid as of October 2024.

All the talk of "cuts" is designed to instill fear in legitimate Medicaid recipients, when the "cuts" actually target illegitimate recipients and devious states transferring their portion to the Medicaid burden to the federal government.