Delmonte proposal would aid hospitals

Local News

March 19, 2010

Staff Reports The Tonawanda News The Tonawanda News Fri Mar 19, 2010, 11:07 PM EDT

— — Proposed legislation authored by Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston, would amend inpatient reimbursement rates for eight community hospitals negatively impacted by the Medicaid rebasing reforms in December.

Five out of the eight hospitals are in Western New York and while the average reduction in Medicaid revenue was around 8 percent, those eight hospitals are suffering revenue losses between 50 percent and 71 percent. Specifically, the measure will ensure Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, which suffered a staggering 54 percent loss of Medicaid revenue, or $2.3 million, receives its fair share, DelMonte said during an afternoon news conference Friday at Memorial.

“The revised structure has resulted in unsustainable losses in revenue for community hospitals that serve as sole health care providers for local residents and are, therefore, critical to the health and well-being of the people in these communities,” DelMonte said. “These institutions will be effectively killed by reforms that are treating small institutions like large, public hospitals. In reality, the community hospitals don’t have the option of offsetting Medicaid revenue losses by shifting the burden to non-government payers.”

New York state instituted various reforms to the Medicaid reimbursement rates that sought to shift funding from inpatient to outpatient services. DelMonte noted Memorial Medical Center serves greater Niagara County and provides an essential safety net without a change in the status quo, the loss in inpatient reimbursements could result in its doors closing.

“Quite simply, our medical center cannot sustain operations if we are forced to absorb a revenue reduction of this magnitude,” said Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center President & CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo. “We have already absorbed more than our share of cuts and will continue to do our fair share, but to slap us with a 54 percent cut when our mission as a safety net hospital is to provide care to those who are the most vulnerable goes way beyond fairness.”

DelMonte said the legislation is budget neutral and reallocates $3 million in total state Medicaid funding to the eight community hospitals that ranked among the top 5 percent hardest hit due to the rebasing.

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