Supplemental Medicaid payments are at risk in Texas for private hospitals, including about 21 facilities owned by publicly traded Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). There is a state proposal to revamp the health care structure for individual health insurance in Texas . This includes the health care program for the poor and if it’s approved, Medicaid payments could be reduced.
The article “HCA May Face Big Revenue Hit If Feds Approve Texas Medicaid Plan” by Christopher Weaver on the Kaiser Health News website discusses some of the details of the proposal. HCA is the nation’s largest for profit hospital chain and they took around $657 million in supplemental Medicaid payments from the state of Texas in 2010. The system is at risk of losing some of this money and it really could affect their functioning in a big way.
These payments are relied upon heavily by the HCA. They are used to support the public hospitals that treat higher numbers of uninsured patients as well as Medicaid recipients. The supplements also help support care for the poor and aim to expand health care access to all residents. Some backers of the proposal believe the funds are not reaching the poor in the way in should be. They believe too much of the money is going towards financing hospital construction and pad the bottom line of the hospitals. There needs to be a balance in how the funds are allocated so that quality health care can be obtained by everyone in quality facilities.
Supplemental Medicaid payments are at risk in Texas for private hospitals, including about 21 facilities owned by publicly traded Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). There is a state proposal to revamp the health care structure for individual health insurance in Texas . This includes the health care program for the poor and if it’s approved, Medicaid payments could be reduced.
The article “HCA May Face Big Revenue Hit If Feds Approve Texas Medicaid Plan” by Christopher Weaver on the Kaiser Health News website discusses some of the details of the proposal. HCA is the nation’s largest for profit hospital chain and they took around $657 million in supplemental Medicaid payments from the state of Texas in 2010. The system is at risk of losing some of this money and it really could affect their functioning in a big way.
These payments are relied upon heavily by the HCA. They are used to support the public hospitals that treat higher numbers of uninsured patients as well as Medicaid recipients. The supplements also help support care for the poor and aim to expand health care access to all residents. Some backers of the proposal believe the funds are not reaching the poor in the way in should be. They believe too much of the money is going towards financing hospital construction and pad the bottom line of the hospitals. There needs to be a balance in how the funds are allocated so that quality health care can be obtained by everyone in quality facilities.
Written by Sam Tabes
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