Suburban times january 31 2018

Week of January 31 | Vol 1 • No 25 • www.cstweekly.com

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SuburbanTimes Residents with Disabilities Get a Chance at Independent Living in Flossmoor More Inside Community > PAGE 3

Pictured Left to Right: Richard Monocchio, Executive Director, Housing Authority of Cook County; Paul Braun, Mayor, Village of Flossmoor; Greg Fenton, Director, Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities; Dan Strick, President/CEO, New Star; Audra Hamernik, Executive Director, Illinois Housing Development Authority

w Just in Time for Valentine's Day: 56% of

Couples Agree That Travel Keeps the "Spark" Alive TRAVEL > P2 advertising@cstweekly.com

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w Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s weak-dollar

myopia is dangerous POLITSCOPE > P3 CitizenNewspaper6/

Just in Time for Valentine's Day: 56% of Couples Agree That Travel Treasury Secretary Keeps the "Spark" AliveMnuchin’s weak-dollar myopia is dangerous

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ARTSCENE

HIGH CONCEPT LABS PROMOTES BILLIE HOWARD TO ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

“For artists operating without major academic or institutional support, HCL offers something truly unique; transparency for the artistic process and the creation of transformational experiences and connections,” Howard said

CHICAGO — High Concept Laboratories NFP (HCL), a Chicago-based arts service organization, recently announced the promotion of Billie Howard to artistic director. In her new role, which builds on her two years with HCL, Howard will be responsible for providing creative strategy, program planning, and implementation of HCL’s vision for artist experimentation and discovery across its portfolio of programs and services.

“High Concept Labs’ ongoing support of our artists and our passion for connecting their work with the public could not be possible without the artistic insight and strategic thinking Billie has brought to our team,” said Steven Wang, executive director of HCL. “Billie’s leadership and commitment to our artists has been critical to HCL’s continued growth and I look forward to the value she will bring as our first-ever artistic director.”

Howard is a Chicago-based musician, educator and arts administrator and originally joined HCL in 2016 as an artistic planning and development associate. She brings nearly 15 years of nonprofit and arts leadership to HCL, in addition to her personal, ongoing work as an active musician, collaborator and teacher in Chicago’s creative community.

As a violinist and pianist, Howard regularly performs and collaborates with one of her groups, including The Paver, a.pe.ri.od. ic, Akosuen and the NbN Trio, which was featured as an HCL Sponsored Artist during the Fall 2012 season. Howard also performs frequently with many ensembles, including Noname, Bobby Conn, Wrekmeister Harmonies and Chicago Composer’s Orchestra. Her work has been featured on studio recordings by American Idol-winner Lee DeWyze, Grammy-nominated children’s artist

Justin Roberts, and many other national recording artists.

In addition to her work as a performer and arts leader, Howard serves as an adjunct professor of piano at Concordia University, where she maintains a large piano studio. She holds bachelor’s degrees in piano and violin performance from Montana State University and a master’s of music in piano performance and pedagogy from Northwestern University.

“For artists operating without major academic or institutional support, HCL offers something truly unique; transparency for the artistic process and the creation of transformational experiences and connections,” Howard said. “As artistic director, I’m thankful for the opportunity to continue working with so many world-class artists and growing our programming and services to bring HCL to the next level.”

As artistic director, Howard is currently overseeing HCL’s recently announced lineup of artists for the organization’s Spring 2018 Sponsored Artist Program, which promotes the growth of artists and their work through the donation of customizable, no-cost support services. Eight local and national artists and collectives representing a diverse artistic disciplines (Jan Bartoszek, Dance; Aquil Charlton, Music; Aram Han Sifuentes, Performance/ Installation; Annie Kielman and Joshua Patterson, Performance; Meg Leary, Performance; Rika Lin, Dance; Cat Mahari, Dance; Margaret Morris, Dance) will develop, rehearse and present new work for Chicago audiences this season.

For more information about the Spring 2018 Sponsored Artist Program, visit highconceptlabs.org/ spring-2018-sponsored-artists/.

TRAVEL Just in Time for Valentine's Day: 56% of Couples Agree That Travel Keeps the "Spark" Alive ST

DALLAS-- When deciding upon the perfect Valentine's gift for that special someone, many people first think of chocolate, flowers or jewelry. However, the best gift may be one that can't be put into a box - travel.

According to a recent survey conducted for Travelocity®, over half (56%) of respondents currently in a relationship think that a romantic getaway is important to keeping a "spark" in that relationship. But with 30% having never been on a couples only trip and with half of those who have having not done so in over two years, too many couples aren't taking their own advice.

"Anne and I set off on our honeymoon in January 2012, and 50 countries and 5 years later, we're still exploring the world. Travel is the ultimate bonding experience," said Mike Howard, half of the travel blogging duo at HoneyTrek,

and a Travelocity Gnational Gnomad. "Exploring exotic places, trying new things, sharing the thrills of adventure...that's what memories are made of." His partner Anne Howard added, "While multiyear trips aren't for everyone, it's important to take the time to enjoy each other's company in fresh and exciting ways. Traveling, be it for a weekend getaway each month or a couple of big trips a year, will definitely add that spark."

The Travelocity survey also revealed that the average couple spends around 6 hours per week of "couples time," and of that, they considered roughly 12% of that time to be "romantic." That's only about 7 minutes per day! To help couples needing more of that romantic "alone time," Travelocity's hotel experts have combed through their data to determine the US cities that boast the highest number of lodging options

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described as "romantic." These cities (or areas) are: New York City, Miami Los Angeles. Chicago, New Orleans, Boston, Napa Valley, San Francisco, San Diego, Florida Keys Between now and Valentine's Day, Travelocity makes it easy to find and book a romantic hotel in one of these cities at http://travelocity. us/romanticcities where travelers can also find a coupon for $20 off of a $100 romantic adventure such as a gondola ride in Venice or a sunset balloon tour in San Diego. Terms apply. See https://www.travelocity.com/g/rf/20red for details.

And to create the perfect itinerary, Travelocity has enlisted the help of its Gnational Gnomad community of travel experts to get tips on the most romantic things to do in some of these cities. These expert ideas can also be found at https:// www.travelocity.com/inspire/ romantic-destinations/.

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COMMUNITY

Residents with Disabilities Get a Chance at Independent Living in Flossmoor

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

By Lisette Gushiniere

FLOSSMOOR – Residents with disabilities now have new opportunities for independent living in Flossmoor and are expected to move into their new home in February.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) and New Star recently joined state and local officials to announce the grand opening of the Leavitt Apartments, a new six-unit apartment building located on 1038 Leavitt Avenue.

Leavitt Apartments represent the first single-site supportive housing development for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities financed by IHDA. All six apartments are specifically designed to allow residents – who would otherwise live with family or in group homes – to live independently with the help of services provided on-site by New Star.

“This is an amazing opportunity for the Village of Flossmoor,” IHDA Executive Director Audra Hamernik said. “These are critically needed apartments that will go a long way to improve quality of life for people with disabilities. With affordable rents, access to neighborhood amenities and connections to supportive services, they will ensure that every resident can reach their full potential, regardless of the challenges they face.”

Located within walking distance to the amenities of downtown Flossmoor – including the Metra station, library, post office and more – the Leavitt Apartments offer new options for those who do not need the 24-hour services of a group home.

Individualized supportive services provided by New Star, including education, life management skills, vocational services and enrichment programs, create a unique opportunity to balance residents’ desire for independence with their personal service needs.

“It is a milestone for any individual to live on their

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own and achieve independence,” said Dan Strick, president and chief executive officer of New Star.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our consumers to take on that responsibility with supportive care.

It highlights our mission and firm commitment to provide choices and opportunities for persons with disabilities.”

Several people have already been identified to move into the apartments, according to Strick, who added, there are still two vacancies left.

In addition to the Leavitt Apartments, New Star currently has 23 residential homes that are classified as a Community Integrated Living Arrangement (CILA).

CILA is a living arrangement for adults (ages 18 and older) in a group home, family home or apartment where 8 or fewer unrelated adults with developmental disabilities live under the supervision of a community developmental services agency, such as New Star, Strick explained.

Beyond residential services, Strick said New Star provides day programming, respite care for children and adults, vocational training, employment services, life-skills enrichment, high school transition, homebased services, recreational services and advocacy.

New Star’s services have been concentrated in the south suburbs and in Northwest Indiana.

Developed by New Star and Brush Hill Development, Leavitt Apartments was financed entirely with $2.3 million from the State’s Build Illinois Bond Program, which provides affordable housing grants, loans and investments with an emphasis on serving low-income persons with disabilities.

In addition, rental assistance for all six apartments will be provided through the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC). People can apply for housing through HACC, which maintains a waiting list of eligible applicants.

For more information on leasing and waitlist status, contact New Star at (708) 755-8030.

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POLITISCOPE

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s weak-dollar myopia is dangerous Breaking with long-standing tradition, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin endorsed the weakening of the dollar as “good” for the United States.

Benjamin J. Cohen Speaking during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 24, Mnuchin said: “Obviously, a weaker dollar is good for us as it relates to trade and opportunities.”

The reaction was swift. The greenback dropped like a stone as news of his comments spread, hitting a threeyear low in currency markets.

Never before in living memory has one of America’s top economic officials spoken in favor of a weaker

dollar. The president himself dove into the mix by reassuring nervous investors after he arrived in Davos that he does, in fact, favor a stronger dollar.

Indeed, that’s been the usual mantra out of Washington for decades. Mnuchin’s immediate predecessor, Jacob Lew, for example, put it this way: “A strong dollar has always been a good thing for the United States.”

So it came as a shock to many – including me – when Mnuchin declared that a depreciation of the greenback is “obviously” welcome. As a specialist in currencies, I think it’s worth briefly highlighting what exactly was so alarming about what the treasury secretary said.

What a weaker dollar does Mnuchin may have begun to realize he went too far soon after he made his remarks on Jan. 24 – or noticed the dollar’s sudden plunge – because the next day he

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tried to walk them back, declaring that the Trump administration is not really concerned with “where the dollar is in the short term.”

The effort seemed half-hearted, as he described his previous words as “consistent with what I’ve said before…. There are benefits and there are costs of where the dollar is.”

But does he really understand the benefits and costs involved? So far he has said little to ease fears about the Trump administration’s intentions in promoting a weaker U.S. dollar.

It is clear that Mnuchin sees benefits in depreciation. A weaker dollar, he said, “is good for trade.” The logic is familiar to any first-year student of economics. Depreciation, in principle, is supposed to lower the price of CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 www.cstweekly.com

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FOOD

The Chicago Culinary Museum and Chefs Hall of Fame partner for an over-the-top fanciful foodie experience Levy in 2014, and Chef (Chicago, IL) – The Tony Mantuano, Chef Chicago Culinary Judy Contino, Chef J. Museum and Chefs Hall Joho, Georges “Kiki” Cuiof Fame http://www. thechicagoculinarymusance, Steve Lombardo seum.org/, now under and Hugo Ralli in 2015, the umbrella of AmeriChef Fabio Viviani, Chef can Culinary Federation Sébastien Canonne, Chef Chefs and Culinary ProPierre Pollin, Jim Kallas, fessionals of Chicagoland and Charlie Mok in 2017. http://ccpchicagoland.

What: Chefs Hall of org/, recently announced Fame 2018 Induction their twelfth event feaCeremony turing the induction of When: Saturday, FebruChef John Hogan as Chef ary 17, 2018, 6:00 p.m. to of the Year, Chef Mindy 7:00 p.m.; For the Love Of Segal as Pastry Chef of Chocolate Gala to follow the Year, and restauraWhere: The Palmer teur Fred Hoffmann as House Hilton, 17 East Industry Leader into the Monroe, Chicago, Illinois Restauranteur Fred Hoffmann Chef John Hogan Chef Mindy Segal Chefs Hall of Fame for 60603 2018.

Tickets: http://www. entertainment. The preferred attire for the ladies This year, the induction thechicagoculinarymuseum. org/ ceremony will precede the For the Love Of Choc- will be flowing floral gowns and flower crowns, and the preferred attire for the gentlemen will be About the Chicago Culinary Museum and Chefs olate http://ftloc.org Foundation’s thirteenth white tuxedos. Tickets are now on sale for $175 per Hall of Fame: annual fundraiser at The Palmer House Hilton person. Tickets may be purchased at www.thechilocated at 17 East Monroe in downtown Chicago A 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in cagoculinarymuseum.org or www.ftloc.org. When 2006 by Chef John Kaufmann and the late Chef on Saturday, February 17, 2018. The two events purchasing please make sure to choose the Chef’s have partnered together to bring an over-theJohn Castro, the Chicago Culinary Museum and Hall of Fame ticket option to attend. top fanciful foodie experience on a cold winter’s Chefs Hall of Fame was created to celebrate the Previous inductees into the Chefs Hall of Fame night in Chicago. The induction ceremony will achievements and contributions of Chicago chefs, include the late Chef Charlie Trotter in 2006, take place at 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. in the Red food manufacturers, restaurateurs, and hoteliers Chef Jimmy Bannos in 2007, Chef Rick Bayless Lacquer Room immediately followed by Whimsy: while promoting and celebrating Chicago as a in 2008, Chef Carrie Nahabedian in 2009, Chef A Dessert Dream Brought to Life, until midnight. culinary mecca. Now back under the wing of the Art Smith in 2010, Chef Priscilla Satkoff in 2011, This event will not only honor the inductees, it American Culinary Federation Chefs and Culinary will also promote and celebrate Chicago's culinary Chef Graham Elliot with Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer in Professionals of Chicagoland http://ccpchicago2012, Chef Paul Kahan, Chef Alain Roby, Richard preeminence and raise funds for scholarships for land.org/, its primary goal is to raise funds for Melman, Chef Hans Aeschbacher, the late Chef student chefs. After the induction ceremony, the scholarships for up-and-coming chefs. For more Jean Banchet, and the late Chef Louis Szathmary evening will feature 13 full open bars, wandering information on the Chicago Culinary Museum and in 2013, Chef Stephanie Izard, Chef Gale Gand, feast prepared by top local restaurants, current Chefs Hall of Fame, please visit www.thechicagoChef Michael Kornick, Phil Stefani, and Larry and past inductees, playful performances and live culinarymuseum.org.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s weak-dollar myopia is dangerous CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

domestic goods relative to foreign goods and thus both promote exports and limit imports.

Much depends, however, on how traded goods are priced and how much of any exchange-rate change will actually be “passed through” to customers as final prices. The net impact on the U.S. trade balance could be considerably smaller than anticipated.

On the import side, for example, we have oil, the biggest single product Americans purchase from abroad.

Since the global petroleum market is priced in dollars, a weaker greenback will have no effect at all on the cost of oil imports. And the same is true for many industrial imports as well that are typically priced in dollars, such as cars and electronics from Japan.

Conversely, on the export side, many of the products American industry sells abroad – such as aircraft or heavy machinery – are highly complex and little

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affected by marginal movements of price.

Costs of weakness It is less clear whether Mnuchin understands the potential costs of the weak-dollar policy he was advocating, which could be substantial. In his view, it seems, favoring a weak dollar is not threatening to others.

“What’s good for the U.S.,” he said, “is what’s good for the rest of the world.”

But that is precisely wrong if the “good” for America comes at the expense of others, as it does when the benefit comes from weakening one’s own currency.

Depreciation is a “beggar-thy-neighbor” strategy in which any trade gains are by definition someone else’s loss.

Why should we assume that foreign governments would stand idly by while market shares are being lost?

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More likely, they would retaliate with competitive depreciations of their own, unleashing currency war on a major scale, as we saw earlier this decade.

And perhaps worst of all, prolonged depreciation could severely erode the dominant position of the greenback as the world’s leading currency. The United States has long gained both economically and politically from the willingness of others to use the dollar as their favorite investment medium. But who wants to hold onto a sadly wasting asset? Why not switch to the euro, yen or yuan instead?

A myopic policy of depreciation in Washington could prove to be the death knell of the dollar.

Benjamin J. Cohen is a Professor of International Political Economy at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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NEWS

Rep. Robert Rita Seeks Reelection In The 28th District

Indiana they are getting the windfall and revenue from Illinois people and we get nothing out of it,” State Representative Robert Rita of Illinois’s said Rita.

28th district has been in office since 2003 and is Overall, Rita plans to continue working for what’s running for reelection this year. While everything in the best interest of his district and managing seems like business as usual for Rita, he does have essential community service programs within those a few irons in the fire that will carry over into his communities. next term, if he is once again reelected.

For more information on Rep. Robert Rita www.

A major accomplishment of Rita’s time in office robertbobrita.com has been completing the highway interchange conGlenwood Fire Department to celebrate a historic necting the Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294) and first I-57 near Markham in the south suburbs.

Glenwood, Il.—The Village of Glenwood along Rita was able to accomplish this because of his with the Glenwood Fire Department hosted a dedposition as chairman of the Tollway Oversight ication and celebration for two new apparatus on Committee. In collaboration with the Illinois January, 31st at the department’s Station 2 fireDepartment of Transportation, Rita was able to house, 534 Roberts Drive (Arquilla St. and Roberts take a decade-long complaint from his constituDr.). ents and turn it into action.

The event marked an historic first for the village “When you talk about all the South Suburban by welcoming 2 new ambulances to the fleet. The communities, this was something that everyone two new ambulances, identified as Ambulance was trying to get done for a number of years. What 20 and 21 respectively, will each be based in the it ultimately did was open the entire corridor of the departments 2 fire stations on each side of town.

South Suburbs,” said Rita.

Each ambulance will be staffed 24/7 by state The project was designed in two phases to make certified EMS/Firefighter personnel, who will be sure a good majority of the work could be done in able to provide Advance Life Support (ALS) to the the first phase. Phase one accomplished 80 percent citizens of Glenwood, and support area commuof the entire proposed plan and was completed nities. In addition, the Glenwood Fire Department in Oct. 2014. Phase two is is currently underway will be implementing 2 front line fully equipped and in the research stages, according to Rita. If ALS fire engines, to supplement the ambulances. reelected, phase two construction will likely take State Representative Robert Rita of Illinois’s 28th district is running This change is due in part to the planned closing of place during his next term. inpatient services at St. James Hospital in Chicago for reelection and plans to continue his commitment to saving Rep. Rita has also been working diligently over community service programs, creating jobs, and building revenue Heights, and the effect this will have on area comthe past couple years to pass a gambling expansion in his district and the state. Photo Credit: Rep. Robert Rita munities such as Glenwood. bill. The proposed bill authorizes five new casinos The impact of losing a close emergency departin Illinois, with one going into the south suburbs. ment, combined with extended travel times to other “I’ve been negotiating and working on a gamstate line where many Illinois residents are travelhospitals, would increase ambulance “down time” bling expansion project to bring a casino to the ing to for gambling purposes, according to Rita. and limit EMS availability without some communisouth suburbs. All the south suburbs are in favor “Indiana right now has a casino sitting right on ties implementing some changes. of bringing a casino in that would create jobs and the border and 80 to 90 percent of its patrons are Plans for the expansion of in-patient services at add an economic engine to the south suburbs,” said from Illinois so, the critics would say you’re going St. James Olympia Fields to offset the closing of Rita. to create a bunch of social problems, but when Chicago Heights was rejected in 2016 by the State Indiana has two casinos very close to the Illinois people are going over the border and gambling in of Illinois.

By: Katherine Newman

New tax law may put squeeze on rural hospitals One of the selling points for the tax bill President Trump signed into law a few weeks ago is that it will spur job growth because corporations will use money they otherwise would have paid in taxes to hire more workers.

But for rural areas and small towns, one provision of the new law may result in the closure of one of their biggest employers – their hospital.

Rural hospitals in general operate on much thinner margins than most big city hospitals, margins so thin that dozens have been forced to close in recent years. In fact, almost all the U.S. hospitals that have been shuttered in recent years have been in rural areas. A recent study (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/ state-by-state-breakdown-of-80-rural-hospital-closures-081517.html) by the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program found that 80 rural hospitals have closed since 2010 and that 673 more are vulnerable to

closing. And that was before the tax bill was passed.

The part of the new tax law that puts rural hospitals in further jeopardy is the repeal of the so-called individual mandate, the provision of the Affordable Care Act that required most Americans to have health insurance.

Only those who qualified for a hardship exemption could remain uninsured without paying a stiff penalty (https:// www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/how-much-is-theobamacare-penalty-not-having-health-insurance/).

Polls consistently showed that the mandate was the most unpopular part of the ACA. Republicans often cited it as a reason for their opposition to the health reform law that President Obama signed in 2010.

Obama himself was once a critic of the mandate. But insurance company executives and many health policy experts told him and Congress that without it, premiums would become increasingly unaffordable for people who

were in greatest need of coverage – people in their 50s and 60s and anyone with a current or preexisting medical condition. They argued that, unless they were required to enroll, many young and healthy people would stay uninsured, making it necessary for insurers to charge older and less healthy applicants much more for their coverage than if those young and healthy people were in the “pool” of insured customers.

Shortly before Congress passed the tax bill last month, the Congressional Budget Office estimated (https:// www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-healthcare/ repeal-of-individual-mandate-would-increase-uninsured-premiums-cbo-idUSKBN1D820Q) that repealing the mandate would increase the number of uninsured by 13 million over the next 10 years and cause premiums in the individual market to rise an additional 10 percent.

The American Hospital Association, along with CONTINUED TO PAGE 7

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NEWS

Planned Parenthood Opens New Flossmoor Facility

testing, prep for HIV prevention, transgender Planned Parenthood of Illinois hormone therapy or any of (PPIL) opened their seventeenth the other services we provide facility in Flossmoor on Jan. 11. we want to be able to see all The new health center, located of the patients who need our at 19831 Governors Highway, services and provide that will provide a number of services quality healthcare for them,” to the 1,200 patients, living in said Lynn. southern Cook County, who have Planned Parenthood been traveling to other Planned utilized a Community Parenthood locations to receive Healthcare Advocacy Comcare. mittee(CHAC) while deciding “When we were doing a needs where the new health center assessment of where to put a new should go, according to health center we found that there Lynn. The CHAC is a group were about 1,200 existing PPIL of roughly twenty commupatients living in southern Cook nity members from various County,” said Julie Lynn, manager backgrounds and professions of external affairs for PPIL. “As a who organized to help PPIL way to help those patients out and learn more about the need of not make them travel to our other the community. locations, I think the closest was “So far it seems like the Aurora, we decided to put a health community is happy that Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) opened their seventeenth facility in Flossmoor on Jan. 11. The center in Floosmoor.” we are there. We have the new health center will provide a number of services to the 1,200 patients, living in southern Cook The health center provides a CHAC, and all of them were County, who have been traveling to other Planned Parenthood locations to receive care. Photo number of services including thrilled that we were going to Credit: Planned Parenthood of Illinois birth control, HIV testing, LGBT be opening a new health center services, men’s health care, emerthere,” said Lynn. gency contraception, abortion To make an appointment at “People shouldn't have to travel to get services, pregnancy testing and services, STD the Flossmoor Facility call 708-960-0907 the care that they need whether that care testing, treatment and vaccines, and womor visit www.plannedparenthood.org/ is abortion services, birth control, STD en’s healthcare. planned-parenthood-illinois.

By: Katherine Newman

New tax law may put squeeze on rural hospitals CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

groups representing doctors and health insurers, lobbied hard against repealing the mandate (https://aha.org/news/ headline/2017-11-14-aha-others-urgecongress-not-include-individualmandate-repeal-tax-bills), but their concerns went unheeded.

The repeal will have no effect this year because the mandate was still in effect during last fall’s open enrollment period for individual and family coverage purchased for 2018 on the state insurance exchanges, which were created by the ACA. But no one will be penalized for remaining uninsured in 2019, and that has many rural hospital administrators – especially those in the 19 states that did not expand their Wendell Potter Medicaid programs under the ACA – very worried.

Hospitals in those states are especially vulnerable because more of the patients they treat are those who have remained uninsured – and in many cases unable to pay for their care – than at hospitals in states that did expand Medicaid.

In states that did not expand, mostly in the South and Midwest, more hospitals have closed in recent years

than in states that did (https://www. beckershospitalreview.com/finance/ state-by-state-breakdown-of-80-ruralhospital-closures-081517.html). Revenue for hospitals there and elsewhere is expected to decline even further beginning this year, especially in rural areas with higher percentages of older residents than other communities, as the tax bill’s cuts to Medicare (https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/ advocacy/info-2017/senate-tax-medicarecuts-fd.html) are implemented.

The repeal of the individual mandate penalties, though, may turn out to be the final nail in the coffin of many vulnerable rural hospitals as even more local residents return to the ranks of the uninsured. Many rural hospitals already provide more uncompensated care (https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/ hlthaff.2014.1340) than their urban counterparts. For one thing, much of the emergency care provided by rural hospitals is classified as uncompensated because uninsured residents, unable to get care in doctors’ offices, often resort to the emergency department (https://www.healthaffairs. org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2014.1340) where they cannot be turned away.

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It is called uncompensated care because many uninsured patients cannot pay their bills, and no small number of them are forced into bankruptcy. Hospitals try to make up for care their patients can’t pay for by charging insured patients more, but small rural hospitals are less able to do that than large urban hospitals that can demand higher compensation from insurance companies. That’s because small hospitals treat fewer of an insurer’s customers than big hospitals do.

The last thing rural hospitals need are more patients who can’t pay their bills, but that is likely what they will get when the individual mandate penalties go away. Many rural hospitals will not survive.

When a rural hospital closes, local residents not only have to travel farther for care, including potentially life-saving emergency care, but the area also loses many good-paying jobs, and in many cases, its largest employer. In the rural communities that lose their hospitals in the years to come, the tax bill may turn out to be more of a job killer than a job creator.

Are you concerned about how Congressional action may affect the future of healthcare in rural America? Send me your questions, concerns and personal stories at Wendell@ Tarbell.com.

Wendell Potter is a former health insurance executive, author and founder of the journalism nonprofit Tarbell.org.

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January 31 2018

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From illustrators and studio execs, to costume designers and more. Just say, “Black History Month” into your X1 Voice Remote to hear their stories and see their work at Black Film & TV on Xfinity On Demand, where Black History is always on.

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