"Safety-net hospitals,” those that care for a large number of poor patients, would lose millions of dollars under a Florida Senate plan to change the Medicaid payment formula, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
According to estimates from the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg would lose $18 million; the only hospital that would lose more money is Jackson Memorial in Miami. Tampa General would lose about $7.4 million, the Tampa Tribune reports.
Lee Memorial Health System says it would lose about $7.5 million, the Naples Daily News reports.
According to the Safety Net Alliance, changing to the diagnosis-related group model of payment would mean for-profit hospitals would gain about $95.8 million next year, while safety-net hospitals would lose about $112.7 million, the Times reports.
The payment model in itself doesn't determine how much hospitals win or lose, but how it is applied. Medicare uses the same payment model, which gives hospitals the average amount it costs to care for a patient with a given diagnosis and was intended to discourage keeping patients longer than necessary.
In other hospital news, UF&Shands has been chosen to partner with Health Management Associates to run Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, the Gainesville Sun reports.
