Regional Digest
Regional Digest
• Baptist Health Systems of South Florida lost $750,000 on operations during its first six months of FY99, even though the hospital is the busiest it has ever been. Executives expect a shortfall of $4 million by the end of the fiscal year. The problem can be attributed to HMOs, Medicare cutbacks and other healthcare changes, reported the Miami Herald. Federal reimbursement cuts to home health prompted the health system to merge its two home health agencies. Medicare payment cuts resulted in a 20% drop in the number of home health visits for the agencies during the first six months of FY99.
• The Florida Hospital Association recently released a report that indicates the state’s hospitals are heading toward disaster, reported the Tampa Tribune. Over the next five years, Tampa General Hospital will notice a $53 million reduction in Medicare payments, and Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater will suffer a $79 million loss, the association says. The report is based on a survey of 209 Florida hospitals, with 189 responding. Morton Plant was listed as being the most severely affected by changes to Medicare. About $33 million of the total $79 million loss will come from its home healthcare services, the association data shows. But a spokeswoman for BayCare Health System, Morton’s father company, said BayCare might come up with different numbers than the association. The report predicts that Florida hospitals will see the following decline in Medicare spending: $616 million in 1999, $789 million in 2000, $950 million in 2001, and more than $1 billion in 2002.
• The Oklahoma Department of Human Services will not have to cut spending or programs in its home care program, agency officials learned recently. About $2 million will be transferred from unbudgeted federal revenues into personal care and nontechnical medical care programs, both of which have been running more than 30% over budget. The services have had an increase in enrollment due to changes in Medicare law, reported the Daily Oklahoman.
• A Vanderburgh County (IN) Critical Issues Survey conducted recently found that residents of the area are concerned greatly with the need for in-home services for elderly people. The 1,324 residents surveyed ranked it as the most crucial issue facing the community. It has never been ranked before since the first survey was conducted in 1987. When the survey was last taken in 1996, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as teenage pregnancy, topped the list. Community leaders believe that government cutbacks in home healthcare services and aging baby boomers faced with caring for elderly relatives may have brought the issue to the top of the survey, reported the Evansville Courier & Press. The findings of the survey help groups like the United Way decide on how to allocate funds and plan for the future.
• An estimated 50,000 older people in Florida depend on a state program for help at home, but another 5,000 who need the care are still waiting for it because of a money shortage, reported the Tampa Tribune. State lawmakers did not put enough money into the budget, even though the increase in spending for home care services was the largest in years. The costs will continue to grow, analysts say. There are 316,000 people over age 85 now living in Florida, but by 2015 that number is expected to climb to 586,000. The state Legislature added about $19 million to home and community care services this spring, cutting the waiting list by two-thirds. The governor’s new chief of the Elder Affairs Department, Gema Hernandez, wants to expand the role of state workers who screen people for Medicaid nursing home care, having them follow clients from the first home services. Hernandez also wants businesses to take a greater role in providing the care, the Tribune reported.
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