Last week, news broke that several federal agencies have determined that the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will run dry by 2031.

At risk: inpatient hospital services, hospice care, and skilled nursing facility and home health services following hospital stays. Unless changes are made before that 2031 date, health care providers will be facing an 11% cut. The impacts of those cuts would be deeply felt in Oregon and across the country.

John Cochran is a resident of southwest Portland, and is a professional healthcare management and operations consultant as the president of Cochran Consulting.