A budget impasse in Pennsylvania is costing rural hospitals millions of dollars, according to a WNEP report.
Here are six things to know about the issue.
1. In December, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) line-item vetoed supplemental funding for hospitals, including critical access hospitals. Specifically, the cuts to hospitals total $17.5 million in state funding, which would trigger another $18.5 million of cuts from federal match funds, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.
2. Among the rural facilities affected by the veto are:
- Barnes-Kasson Hospital in Susquehanna
- Meyersdale (Pa.) Medical Center
- Penn Highlands Brookville (Pa.)
- Titusville (Pa.) Area Hospital
- Corry (Pa.) Memorial Hospital
- Jersey Shore (Pa.) Hospital
3. According to WNEP, hospital administrators are concerned Gov. Wolf's recent line-item veto will end up leaving them without the money they need to keep their facilities going.
4. At Barnes-Kasson, which is doing without almost $1 million that is tied up by the state budget impasse, five workers have been laid off for the hospital to continue running without the state money, the hospital told WNEP. The hospital has also lowered salaries between 6 and 10 percent.
5. Dave Shannon, CEO of Jersey Shore Hospital, has expressed his own concerns. "The supplemental payment is for services our patients received in 2013 and 2014. It's unfortunate and disappointing that the state's most vulnerable hospitals and communities are being harmed due to the state's inability to agree on a budget. We count on that supplemental payment. Without it, it is going to be very difficult to maintain our commitment to our communities," he said, according to WNEP.
6. Gov. Wolf has said the line-item veto "was not intended to be disparaging," and he is trying to keep the critical access program in the state budget. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the cuts are not guaranteed and were included in Gov. Wolf's proposed budget a year ago.