Without Medicaid expansion, financial future bleakens for safety net hospitals like UVa

The University of Virginia Medical Center and other so-called safety net hospitals are bracing for more uninsured patients this year and financial losses starting in 2016 as the prospects of Medicaid expansion fade. "Private hospitals may still see some indigent care [to fulfill their nonprofit mission], but more and more of those without public or private insurance will be triaged to teaching hospitals" such as UVa and the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, said Carolyn L. Engelhard, assistant professor of health policy analysis at UVa's School of Medicine.