The recent growth in the number of uninsured Americans could be especially harmful to non-profit hospitals and health systems, according to S&P Global Ratings.

As reported by Healthcare Dive, S&P believes that because non-profit hospitals serve larger proportions of uninsured patients, they are more vulnerable to increases in the number of uninsured people.  Healthcare Dive also notes that

In particular, S&P warns of a credit negative for nonprofits as patients who started in a care plan with health insurance seek to continue treatment without it.  Many hospitals already are struggling as volumes and reimbursement decline and more care shifts to outpatient settings.

S&P anticipates higher levels of bad debt for hospitals in the near future.

Learn more about some of the challenges non-profit hospitals may soon face in this Healthcare Dive article.