Denver Health executives are worried about how the worsening economy will leave the safety net hospital with more uncompensated care than ever — potentially $75 million more this year over last.
We share their concern.
The institution has, with vision and smart management, earned a national reputation for delivering top-notch health care to a disproportionately poor clientele while staying within a budget that has remained in the black.
Given what has happened with health care during the last couple of decades, that’s an accomplishment that deserves not only recognition but also a public commitment to protect it.
That’s why we hope that hints coming out of Washington about additional health care funding are ideas that actually make it into any future economic stimulus package.
Dr. Patricia Gabow, Denver Health’s chief executive officer, told us the hospital is the “canary in the mine shaft.” When the economy gets bad, more people lose health care coverage and turn to Denver Health.
The institution expected to finish 2008 with about $75 million more in uncompensated care than the prior year. It’s still early, but indications are that 2009 will be worse.
Safety net hospitals like Denver Health get what is called “disproportionate share hospital funds” through Medicaid. These payments, based on the proportion of uninsured patients served, help keep these hospitals afloat and able to provide quality care.
As the economy worsens and need rises, increasing disproportionate share funding is a wise move.
Higher amounts of uncompensated care not only strain an institution, perhaps forcing service and staff cuts, but they also add up to a hidden tax on those who still have health insurance.
Typically, the cost of uncompensated care is calculated in the rates a hospital charges, which inevitably increases the cost of health insurance.
In essence, you can pay me now or you can pay me later.
On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she hoped other lawmakers would support an economic stimulus plan to, in part, “help states avoid deep cuts to health care and other essential services.”
Gabow said that on a recent trip to Washington she met with some Pelosi staffers as well as Congresswoman Diana DeGette of Denver, to talk about potential congressional fixes for health care.
We hope that as Congress targets ways to get this country back on its feet economically, there is strong consideration given to increasing funding that enables hospitals like Denver Health to provide quality health care to struggling people who have nowhere else to turn.
