Measuring the COVID-19 Financial Threat to Hospital Markets

Many hospitals have been straining under the financial stress of treating COVID-19 patients. Those experiencing the greatest strain are in markets burdened with high levels of debt and uncompensated care. We propose a new measure of financial risk in a hospital market, combining both pre-existing financial vulnerability and COVID-19 severity. It reveals the highest concentrations of risk in counties with high poverty, low population density, and high shares of foreign-born and non-White populations. The CARES Act Provider Relief Fund helped many of the hospitals in these regions, but it left many markets with the same overall vulnerability to financial strain from the next health crisis.