Large hospital techniques with massive staffs can dedicate time and power to combating claims denials, the American Hospital Association says. In response, some smaller methods are beginning to reject Medicare Advantage plans. This summer season, Jason Merkley, chief government of Brookings Health System, a highly rated nonprofit hospital chain in South Dakota, stopped accepting the plans due to protection denials and pre-authorization issues. Only a small percentage of the system’s patients had Medicare Advantage plans, Merkley informed NBC News, however the effort required to battle the denials was appreciable. Meanwhile, CEOs of rural nonprofit hospital techniques in Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi,…