Funding is in jeopardy for a widely supported program to create 1,000 mostly entry-level jobs at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System in Baltimore and other local hospitals, according to a report from The Baltimore Sun.
Here are five things to know about the issue.
1. The Health Services Cost Review Commission, which controls what hospitals charge for services, has recommended against letting facilities raise their prices to fund the program, according to the report. The systems are asking for changes to HSCRC regulations that would lead to an increase of approximately $2.50 per $1,000 of current hospital charges, generating as much as $40 million annually to support new entry-level positions and job training.
2. In making the recommendations, state regulators cite concerns about passing on the $40 million cost to public and private insurers. "All parties have acknowledged the importance of jobs in reducing economic disparities," the Health Services Cost Review Commission's staff wrote in a preliminary report, according to The Baltimore Sun. "However, there are critical differences in thinking about how creating job opportunities should be addressed and who should provide the funding for the job creation."
3. Instead, the recommendations called for diverting existing funding or seeking outside sources rather than raising rates, according to the report.
4. The Health Services Cost Review Commission's recommendation comes months after Johns Hopkins and other hospitals proposed the Health Employment Program. According to the report, the program is designed to address hopelessness expressed by people in impoverished Baltimore neighborhoods following the April shooting of Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., a 25-year-old African-American man. The program is specifically aimed at Baltimore neighborhoods facing poverty and high unemployment, and could provide jobs ranging from cleaning floors and transporting patients to assisting people with health insurance.
5. The commission board is expected to vote on the recommendations next month.
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