Kenneth, Will the Republicans be ready to compromise on revenue increases or go over the cliff. If Missouri is affected then other states will also be impacted. Barnes Hospital and Washington University are one of the top ten medical centers in the US according to the USNews Magazine.
Missouri could lose 10,000 health care jobs to Medicare cuts
St. Louis Business Journal by Samantha Liss, Reporter
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012, 9:50am CDT
Samantha Liss
Reporter- St. Louis Business Journal
Missouri could lose 10,667 health care jobs in 2013, and more than 16,000 by 2021 if the federal government allows mandated Medicare cuts to take effect in 2013. These cuts are an attempt to reduce the federal deficit but could mean significant job loss within the U.S. health care industry, according to a report by consulting firm Tripp Umbach, commissioned by the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association.
In the coming weeks and months, the Missouri Hospital Association will analyze what the 2 percent in Medicare spending cuts, known as sequestration, will mean for health care providers in Missouri. These cuts come at an already tough time for hospitals, as some are receiving less reimbursement payments from Medicare for services already provided because of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, said Dave Dillon, vice president of media relations of Missouri Hospital Association
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This 2 percent cut would cause a ripple effect throughout the nation’s health care industry, according to the Tripp Umbach study, which estimates more than 496,000 jobs lost nationwide in 2013, growing to 766,000 by 2021. The cuts amount to $10.7 billion in the first year, ballooning to $16.4 billion by 2021.
This is a concern for Missouri, and especially the St. Louis area, where the health care industry is the largest employer, Dillon said. Missouri Hospitals have a substantial impact on the state’s economy. In 2009 the hospitals had total operating revenue of more than $18.9 billion, employed 147,165 individuals, with a payroll expense of about $6.8 billion, according to a 2011 study by the Community Policy Analysis Center in collaboration with the Missouri Hospital Association. Without action from the U.S. Congress, these cuts are set to affect every single hospital in Missouri, and for St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield it means controlling expenses.
“As all hospitals face existing and potential future changes in reimbursement, we continue to carefully manage expenses to activity levels in order to provide the highest quality of care. Continued cuts necessitate an even more careful look at capital expenditures, regardless of being affiliated with a system or independent,” said Scott Johnson, St. Luke’s Hospital vice president and chief financial officer. |
