In case you missed it, Becker’s reports that “Medicare historically reimburses hospitals below the cost of providing care to patients, but payments to hospitals fell to a record low in 2022, according to new data provided by the American Hospital Association.”
The analysis “shows that Medicare paid 82 cents for every dollar hospitals spent on care for Medicare patients in 2022 — the most recent year for which data is available,” while “Medicare underpayments to hospitals hit $99.2 billion in 2022, almost two and a half times the amount in 2012,” Becker’s adds.
Hospitals and health systems continue to provide 24/7 care despite the financial strain created by factors including Medicare and Medicaid underpayments and lack of prompt payments from insurance companies.
Yet corporate insurance companies and other powerful special interests are lobbying Congress to enact harmful Medicare cuts to hospital care that would jeopardize access to crucial services that only hospitals provide and put patients at even greater risk.
Lawmakers must understand that cutting hospital care is not a solution to the challenges of healthcare costs and access. If politicians side with corporate insurers to cut Medicare, patients will pay the price.
- To learn more about how Medicare cuts would harm patients, click here.
- To learn more about how corporate insurers are banking record profits by delaying and denying Americans’ care, click here.