Central New York hospitals are taking pay cuts of nearly $3 million because their patient care does not pass muster with the federal government. The government is penalizing nearly every hospital in the region for the second year in a row under a program created by the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that ties hospital Medicare payments to performance. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and the disabled. St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center in Syracuse got the biggest penalty of any hospital in the region -- $1.7 million.
