Charity and other uncompensated care costs dropped steeply at Ohio hospitals compared to 2013 as statewide coverage rates improved.
Uncompensated care costs in the Buckeye State fell 64 percent since it expanded its Medicaid program in 2013, according to the Dayton Daily News, from $1.2 billion to more than $430 million in 2016, while Medicaid shortfalls at the state’s hospitals only increased 2 percent to $490 million. This echoes a broader nationwide trend, FierceHealthFinance previously reported.
At the individual system level, however, results are more varied. For example, Premier Health saw its Medicaid shortfall spike $14 million in the year after the expansion was implemented, climbing to $87.7 million as of last year, while charity care costs fell $13.9 million. While some systems broke even, others achieved a profit due to the savings from providing less charity care.
A closer look at newly covered Ohioans reveals that Medicaid beneficiaries outnumber those covered through Affordable Care Act exchanges by about 3 to 1, Todd Anderson, executive vice president of finance at Kettering Health Network, told the publication. “At times, we see the same patient covered by a commercial product through the exchange that may have been covered by a Medicaid product,” he said. “We see our community members regardless of their insurance. Our growth has enabled us to produce some excess revenue over expenses.”