A temporary payment adjustment kept hundreds of small hospitals solvent. It ends in December. More than two hundred rural hospitals could face closure or the loss of inpatient services if Congress allows a supplemental payment program to lapse at the end of the year, according to an analysis by a hospital association. The program, created as a stopgap, has been extended three times. Its cost has grown each time, and several members of Congress have said they will not support another extension without reforms. Hospital administrators say the alternative is converting to outpatient-only facilities, which would leave some communities more than an hour from the nearest emergency room.Rural hospitals warn of closures as a funding formula expires
