>Hospitals getting more charity care funds
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Last updated: Wednesday June 9, 2010, 8:15 AM
BY MARY JO LAYTON
The Record
STAFF WRITER
https://www.northjersey.com/news/95932119_Hospitals_getting_more_charity_care_funds.html
Hackensack University Medical Center is facing $3.5 million in charity care cuts while St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson is the state’s biggest winner with an additional $7.4 million in proposed funding, state officials announced Tuesday.
Overall, 72 New Jersey hospitals are targeted to receive $665 million, an increase of $85 million in state and federal funding to treat patients who are uninsured or can’t pay for their care, said Health Commissioner Dr. Poonam Alaigh.
“This funding increase clearly demonstrates Governor Christie’s commitment to maintain and strengthen the health care safety net for New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents when they need it most,” Alaigh said.
“Despite the state’s current fiscal crisis, the governor has made charity care a priority,” Alaigh said.
The governor’s proposed budget also changes the funding formula and makes it more equitable to all hospitals, but still protects the hospitals that treat the highest volume of low-income patients, officials said.
The state raised the minimum a hospital can receive from 5 cents on the dollar to 15 cents, and reduced the three-tier funding formula to two tiers, officials said.
At St. Joseph’s, charity care represents 14.1 percent of total charges, the third-highest rate in the state, which is why the hospital is receiving more funding. The data were released late in the day and officials at several North Jersey hospitals were unavailable for comment.
The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood provides the lowest percentage of charity care based on overall charges — 1.6 percent, according to New Jersey Hospital Association data from last year. In the proposed budget, the hospital is scheduled to lose more than $545,176, according to data released Tuesday.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/95932119_Hospitals_getting_more_charity_care_funds.html
