Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's budget proposal includes a few items that are causing concern among the state's hospitals, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The plan includes $36 million in proposed cuts in the budget to supplemental payments for some specialized services, including obstetrics, burn centers and rural critical access hospitals.
Additionally, a single line item at the bottom of one page in the nearly 1,000-page proposal recommends raising $130 million "to provide for revenue maximization projects" which may fall on Pennsylvania hospitals to pay.
"This is one of the most concerning state budgets I've seen, particularly because of where we're at," Denis Lukes told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mr. Lukes is vice president and CFO for the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania, a professional association in Warrendale representing the region's hospitals.
Katie Byrnes, spokeswoman for the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, which represents the interests of Pennsylvania's 164 general acute-care hospitals and other health facilities, echoed Mr. Lukes' concerns, saying the $166 million in cuts "will be devastating, and will significantly hinder hospitals' ability to make the changes necessary to effectively meet many of the Commonwealth's health needs."
Gov. Wolf's press secretary Jeffrey Sheridan responded, saying, "The administration is committed to working closely with HAP on this revenue maximization project, as they have done in the past, to determine the best way to continue to provide financial support to the hospitals using the most feasible method possible," according to the report.
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