Long Island Hospitals Face Fiscal Trouble

Good Samaritan Hospital, West Islip, NY- With Long Island hospitals projected to lose $64 million in Medicaid cuts in Governor David Paterson's proposed 2009-'10 budget, a variety of briefings, sponsored by the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, Inc. (NSHC), were held last week to address the issues.
The last of the three briefings held on Long Island regarding the effects of the state's fiscal crisis on healthcare was held at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center on Friday, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m.

NSHC President and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Dahill, provided an overview of budget concerns and related issues and what these cuts may mean for hospitals.

Dahill noted the idea of the briefing was to give those present, who were hospital staff and officials, a good understanding of what the state budget process is all about. "This year it takes on a much more profound dimension given the significant downturn in our economy," he said.

With a $13.5 billion deficit in New York State, Dahill noted they are concerned about the impact this deficit will have on hospitals. If cuts and taxes go through, a tax of .7 percent on hospital gross income is proposed, it will mean program closures, such as dialysis and mental health programs and layoffs, noted Dahill, who emphasized healthcare is a good investment, "When you have money coming in why would you cut from an industry with the potential to be stable" he asked.

The latest series of numbers, from 2006, seem to show the hospitals are doing fine, but Dahill noted, this is not the case now, as Long Island was barely breaking even then, which did not allow our hospitals the opportunity to reinvest money into their institutions.

Michael Fraser, director of communications for the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), noted HANYS surveyed members in the fall of 2008 to see what they were doing in order to deal with the economic climate. Fraser noted they found that the overwhelming majority had to implement some sort of measure that included layoffs, cutting back on services, freezing hiring and shutting down or scaling back on improvement projects at their facility; in many cases, a combination of some of those measures was required.

The main message of the day, Good Sam President and CEO, William Allison, noted, was that everyone is working hard to get additional Medicaid stimulus money to this state. Fraser noted the stimulus Medicaid money is critical for New York at this point.

FMAP, the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, is the federal share of Medicaid dollars spent in New York. "Right now it is a 50/50 match if spent in New York, meaning the federal government matches our dollar with a dollar," Fraser said.

However, just because the federal government has $12 billion allocated for New York, does not mean that is how the Governor and legislature are going to a spend that money, noted Fraser.

The Medicaid dollars in Washington, DC need to offset the Medicaid cuts the governor proposed. "They have more than enough money to do it (offset the cuts), actually they have four times the amount coming in they need to offset, but it's up to the state's discretion," Fraser said.

Allison spoke to the issue at the briefing, he noted the hospital has seen an incredible surge in occupancy and that Good Sam is a safety net for the community. "There is a notion that we are not getting what we need, Allison said, "We're not asking for a bailout, but don't ask Good Sam to bail out the banks," he said.

Likely Page BreakState Senator Brian Foley (D- Blue Point), noted the state should use federal funds to hold hospitals harmless over the next two years, "We don't want to use federal funds to delay decisions, but to give us some breathing room until it's time to make some budgetary reform decisions," he said.

"Elected officials need to hear from you, hospitals do not vote, you do," Dahill said.