The hospital in Malone is applying to change its federal designation, a move officials say could bring in an additional $3 to $4.5 million dollars a year in revenue.
Leaders at Alice Hyde Medical Center want the facility reclassified by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a critical access hospital. That means it’ll get reimbursed 101% for services it provides to patients insured by federal programs like Medicare.
Since 2010, a reported 140 rural hospitals have closed their doors, including a record 19 hospitals in 2020 alone as a result of the financial pressures of COVID-19 compounded by many other long-standing challenges facing these health systems.
BayCare boasts some of the latest high-tech equipment. Yet, the company said, its $246 million facility that opened here in March doesn’t provide any health care services beyond what patients could receive at a hospital just 2 miles away.
Remote patient monitoring can help providers extend care for patients in underserved areas and improve outcomes, but only if it’s a reimbursable service.
State legislators want to lower healthcare costs for Hoosiers. The Indiana Hospital Association worries it could negatively impact hospitals and patients.
Brian Tabor, president of the hospital association, opposes HB 1004 and the amendment passed by the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee on April 5.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, is the culmination of years worth of work by Astria Health’s leadership, lawmakers and health care providers to increase the hospital’s Medicaid reimbursement rate. The bill unanimously passed the House and Senate and is now headed to Gov. Jay Inslee's desk.