(NewsNation) —  In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court upheld a regulation that allows the federal government to cut Medicare payments to disproportionate share hospitals.

These hospitals, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration, serve a significantly disproportionate number of low-income patients.

According to a study by Generations United and a nonprofit advocacy group for children and the elderly, this is a blow to hospitals that also affects many American families who rely on Medicare support.

Hospitals say they rely on these Medicare payments to help people who are uninsured or impoverished.

“These people are sick, these people don’t have the resources,” The Hill healthcare reporter Nathaniel Wexel said. “So if these hospitals can’t get the payments that they need, they argue that they’re going to be forced to close.”

Wexel came on NewsNation’s “Morning in America” to answer viewer Scott Honeycutt of Virginia’s questions on Medicare. Honeycutt has been working in healthcare for about 20 years.

Q: When is the Medicare program set to go bankrupt?

Wexel: Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is going to go bankrupt in 2028. according to current estimates, Wexel said.

“That’s about two years later than the last estimate, so it’s actually on a better track this year than it was last year,” he said.

Wexel pointed out that just because the Medicare fund is bankrupt, however, it doesn’t mean that the program will not be able to pay for people’s hospital care at all, but that it can only afford some of it.

“It’s only going to be able to pay for about 90% of it rather than 100%,” he explained.

Q: As a nation, what are we doing to be proactive to ensure that we have Medicare, fending for the future generations and the geriatric population?

Wexel: There are a few different proposals circulating through Congress every year or every couple of years, according to Wexel.

They’ve tried to pass a bill that will either cut payments for providers or hospitals in an attempt to save money for patients, he said. But so far, nothing has come of these.

“You may be able to raise the eligibility age, but that’s not going to be very popular,” Wexel said. “In fact, most proposals call for lowering the eligibility age.”

Legislators have also proposed allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

“There’s a few different ideas around it. Nothing really has stuck yet,” he said. “So right now, we’re still on this path to 2028 seeing Medicare run out of money.”

Although people are living longer, lowering the Medicare age will make it so that more people are eligible for care, Wexel said.

“Healthcare is getting more expensive, people are living longer. So yes, it’s going to cost more,” he said. “But if you lower the eligibility age, it’s going to make sure that more people are covered and more people have access to care without bankrupting themselves.”