The budget would cut $74 million from hospital charity care, which would cause the state to forfeit $74 million in matching federal funds.
Hospital-by-hospital aid figures, which include the proposed charity care cut, and the proposed increased funds for residency programs, show that University Hospital in Newark would experience the largest overall drop in aid, from $92.3 million in state fiscal year 2015 to $72.7 million in state fiscal year 2016. Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark would experience the second largest drop, with its aid cut by nearly $11 million. Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth would come next, going from $43.9 million to $34.9 million.
Although many hospitals would see significant declines in direct state subsides, some, such as St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus and the two New Brunswick hospitals, St. Peter’s Hospital and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, would receive at least $1 million in additional revenue in state fiscal year 2016 compared to state fiscal year 2015, according to the aid figures.
But the report notes that it is not yet evident how the proposed 2016 state budget will impact each hospital because it is not clear how much each hospital will get in additional Medicaid money, or how much the charity care each provided changed from 2013 to 2014.
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