Better off hospital and health systems in Colorado may have benefited disproportionately from federal relief funds during the pandemic compared with their poorer rural counterparts, according to a March 12 report in The Gazette.
Because the funds were initially allocated based on previous Medicare payments and hospital revenues, rural and community hospitals received far lower payments when they arguably needed more, the report said.
"The more money you were earning, the more money you got," said Loren Adler, associate director of the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy in Washington, D.C.
So much so that Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, parent company of Colorado's HealthONE network, paid back $1.6 billion in direct federal assistance in October 2020 as well as $4.4 billion in Medicare advance payments.
That said, many even relatively well-off hospital and health systems in the state are continuing to face difficult financial challenges common to many health systems around the country, with several arguing the funds were essential to help retain staff and treat patients during difficult times.
Less well-off rural systems also have an interest in their urban counterparts being financially stable to help boost the local healthcare ecosystem.
"I want them to have large reserves, I want them to be solid," Kevin Stansbury, CEO of 15-bed Lincoln Community Hospital and Care Center in Hugo, Colo., told The Gazette. "We partner with them."
Lessons can and should be learned from the way the funds were initially allocated, Mr. Adler said.
"Going forward, any handouts should not go to the rich hospital systems," he said.