The Wall Street Journal took a look at the dire state of running a hospital these days under President Bush’s new budget. The problem is quite simple, not enough people are paying for the services that the hospital render. This trend is being credited to the precarious position of being unable to collect fees from uninsured patients that these organizations are obligated to serve. One of the larger groups of non payers turns out to be the Federal Government. Jane Zhang reporting:
Hospitals would bear the brunt of President Bush’s proposal to cut Medicare spending by $65.6 billion over five years.
The plan, detailed yesterday in Mr. Bush’s fiscal 2008 budget, would cut payments to medical providers — such as hospitals, hospices, ambulance services and skilled-nursing facilities — by 0.65% in the fiscal year starting next October. The budget also calls for the elimination of the practice of Medicare reimbursing such providers when beneficiaries fail to pay their bills.
