A study by the Rhode Island Hospital Association predicts the addition of more paying patients under health reform will not make up for hospitals' losses in Medicare reimbursements and disproportionate share hospital payments, according to a report by the Providence Journal.
The study finds that the state's 11 acute care hospitals will lose a total of $465.7 million over the next 10 years. About $400 million of that would come from reduced Medicare payments due to annual adjustments in reimbursement, with the rest coming from a reduction of Medicare DSH payments for uncompensated care.
Sheryl Skolnick, a hospital analyst for CRT Financial Group in Connecticut, agreed there is a risk that revenues from paying patients won't make up for the loss of DSH payments, especially if coverage mandates for individual insurance aren’t enforced.
But "at the end of the day, you don’t spend nearly a trillion more dollars on health-care [changes] without some significant benefits accruing to the hospital industry," she said.
Hospital groups working with the Obama administration and Congress on the reform legislation agreed to contribute $155 billion over 10 years through Medicare cuts.
Read the Providence Journal's report on health reform.
The study finds that the state's 11 acute care hospitals will lose a total of $465.7 million over the next 10 years. About $400 million of that would come from reduced Medicare payments due to annual adjustments in reimbursement, with the rest coming from a reduction of Medicare DSH payments for uncompensated care.
Sheryl Skolnick, a hospital analyst for CRT Financial Group in Connecticut, agreed there is a risk that revenues from paying patients won't make up for the loss of DSH payments, especially if coverage mandates for individual insurance aren’t enforced.
But "at the end of the day, you don’t spend nearly a trillion more dollars on health-care [changes] without some significant benefits accruing to the hospital industry," she said.
Hospital groups working with the Obama administration and Congress on the reform legislation agreed to contribute $155 billion over 10 years through Medicare cuts.
Read the Providence Journal's report on health reform.