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Hospital Industry Watches Medicaid, Medicare Talks

BEND, OR -- St. Charles Health System officials are carefully watching discussions in Salem and Washington, D.C. that could dramatically impact the healthcare industry. Last week, the parent company that owns all of Central Oregon’s hospitals announced it is looking for ways to reduce expenses.

 

Chief Financial Officer Jan Welander says the health system is barely making more than it’s spending, partly because of changes at the federal level. "Under the Affordable Care Act, hospitals have been receiving incentive reimbursement over the period of the last two to three years. And, those moneys and programs are starting to decline, or sunset."
 
Welander also tells KBND News talk of cutting Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements is creating even more uncertainty, "Really, legislative changes at the state and federal level are going to impact how much we’re paid for Medicaid and Medicare. We don’t know the magnitude of those impacts yet, but Medicaid and Medicare account for 75% of our business. So, any changes in the federal and state level can have significant impacts for us." She adds, "Everything that happens on the federal level and the state level are of the utmost importance. All of those things point to this is a new normal; that there is not an end in sight to the challenges that healthcare faces."
 
Last week, St. Charles Health System announced it is reevaluating plans for a new patient tower at the Bend hospital. The $66 million construction project will move forward, but Welander says designers are looking for ways to reduce the cost of operating the new facility.

 

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