Hospitals in the Hudson Valley region stand to lose at least $251 million in government reimbursements for Medicare services if scheduled automatic cuts to the federal budget are not averted by Congress, the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) warned Feb. 24.
Hospitals and health systems statewide would lose approximately $2.13 billion if a scheduled 2 percent cut in Medicare payments takes effect, HANYS officials said.
The health care advocacy group”™s estimates were based only on Medicare fee-for-service payments. The total reduced reimbursement also could apply to other Medicare lines of payment to hospitals and health care providers.
Sequestration, the last-resort spending reduction plan included in the federal Budget Control Act of 2011, is due to begin March 1. Medicare cuts would take effect April 1.
Of 29 hospitals included in this region”™s Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association, Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown would lose the most in Medicare payments, an estimated $21,183,000, if sequestration takes effect, HANYS reported.
Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie would be the second largest loser in the seven-county region at an estimated $21,140,000.
In Westchester County, Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla would see the biggest hit to its Medicare revenue, losing an estimated $18,518,000.
White Plains Hospital stands to lose an estimated $13,750,000.
St. John”™s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers and its affiliated Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry together would lose an estimated $12,664,000 in Medicaid revenue.
In Rockland County, Nyack Hospital would see its Medicare reimbursements cut by $13,445,000.
HANYS President Daniel Sisto in a press release noted the sequestration cuts would be in addition to more than $20 billion in federal cuts that New York state hospitals face over the next 10 years as part of health care reform measures. “This unprecedented level of reductions would significantly reduce patient access to care and lead to longer drives and wait times and additional layoffs and service reductions to facilities across the state,” he said.
HANYS researchers analyzed public records and found that 6,135 jobs have been lost from hospitals and health systems across the state since 2010.
