If all of Mosaic Life Care's patients were covered by Medicare, the St. Joseph, Mo.-based health system would be worse off financially, CEO Mark Laney, MD, told the News-Press.
In 2017, Missouri hospitals shouldered more than $686 million in unpaid costs from caring for Medicare patients, according to Missouri Hospital Association data cited by the News-Press. Missouri hospitals, like those nationally, depend on higher reimbursement rates from commercial payers to offset lower Medicare payments. However, under some "Medicare for All" proposals, commercial payers essentially wouldn't exist.
"If it was 100 percent Medicare, it would be a huge impact on us," Dr. Laney told the publication. "We would not have an operating margin. We would be in the red, so to speak. You can imagine how it would affect salaries, recruitment, retention, the ability to buy this sophisticated technology that we use to provide cutting-edge care. It would be a game-changer."
Dr. Laney joins a chorus of hospital CEOs who are speaking out against what Medicare for All would do to their current operations. In September, Wayne Deschambeau, president and CEO of Wayne HealthCare in Greenville, Ohio, said that increasing government involvement in healthcare payments won't solve the industry's cost crisis.
Read the full News-Press article here.
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