From The Las Vegas Sun: "University Medical Center and other public hospitals that serve the uninsured could wind up financially pummeled by the new national health insurance law.
Come 2014, when the law takes full effect, Clark County will begin losing millions of dollars in federal matching funds officially known as Medicaid disproportionate share payments. Those payments help UMC defray the cost of providing care to indigent citizens or undocumented residents who aren’t insured.
Lawmakers in Washington told public hospitals the federal government needs to divert the payments to finance other provisions of the insurance reform legislation, including expansion of eligibility for Medicaid, UMC CEO Kathy Silver says."...“The association supported the health reform legislation because we felt it was important for people to have coverage,” Fagnani says. “But we are cautiously concerned about whether the disproportionate share of dollars will still be needed.”
UMC spokesman Rick Plummer counters that his hospital believes it will lose a lot more in federal funding than the association projects.
“The cuts may hit UMC harder because of the high number of Medicaid patients UMC treats,” he says.
UMC has reason to be more concerned than other public hospitals. It is projected to run as much as $74 million in the red this year, so it can ill afford to take another severe financial hit.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/apr/19/umc-fears-its-future-under-law/
Of course the hospital knew this before the vote and Sun most assuredly did to. Conservatives have been saying this loud and clear but was ignored by the MSM.
So, why did UMC not mention this before the health care vote? That's quite easy to answer. The hospital is run by Clark County and the County Commissioners are in charge of the hospital. Who are the Commissioners? Why, they are all Democrats and who is the head of the Commission? Why, it's Rory Reid, son of Harry Reid. And why didn't the Sun publish this information before the vote on the OLbama, Reid and Pelosi health care bill? Because they are pipe organ of the local Democrats and especially Rory and Harry Reid. When the Reid's ask the Sun to jump, the Suns asks how high.
So, now we are seeing the damage the health care bill will cause. Can we conservatives say "we told you so?"
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Wasn't it conservatives who insisted that taxpayer money should not be used to pay for care for illegal immigrants? And yet you're criticizing the bill for cutting payments that "defray the cost of providing care to...undocumented residents who aren’t insured"? Seems like the Democrats are damned if they do (pay for healthcare for illegal immigrants) and damned if they don't.
ReplyDeleteActually, I have said many times that the feds need to step up and pay for illegal immigrant care since the feds are doing little to secure the border.
ReplyDeleteBut I am more concerned that the Sun and UMC and it's leaders withheld this information until now. They knew this was part of the bill but they went silent until after the vote.