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Move would mean more money
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U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles
Moving to the Cleveland statistical area would mean an additional $2 million to $4 million a year for Forum Health.
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County hospitals would be in line for additional millions of dollars in Medicare reimbursements if U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and other area legislators have their way.
Ryan, of Niles, D-17th, said Wednesday that a coalition of area legislators, including U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, plan to add an amendment to a bill to move Forum Health and Humility of Mary Health Partners from the Trumbull-Mahoning-Mercer core based statistical area (CBSA) to the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor CBSA.
The Cleveland CBSA pays higher Medicare reimbursements. The reimbursement rate is established by a formula, which includes wage indexing. The wage index is determined by the wages and benefits for hospital workers in the area in which the hospitals are located.
Mahoning and Trumbull county hospital officials say they have been losing millions of dollars a year in Medicare reimbursements since 2005, when their CBSA was changed by replacing Columbiana County with Mercer County in Pennsylvania.
Kathy Kendall, director of reimbursement for Forum Health, said the change cost Trumbull Memorial Hospital and the Western Reserve Care System (Northside Medical Center), which make up Forum, a combined $8.5 million for fiscal years 2005 through 2008. The Medicare fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
TMH realized a $1.2 million annual increase in Medicare revenue by switching from the Trumbull-Mahoning-Mercer to the Cleveland CBSA. TMH was able to make the move because it met the distance criteria for joining an abutting CBSA, which is 15 miles. TMH is 14.8 miles from the Cleveland area boundary, Kendall said.
Neither HMHP’s St. Joseph Health Center on Warren’s east side nor Forum’s Northside Medical Center in Youngstown qualified to change CBSAs because they exceed the 15-mile distance requirement.
Moving to the higher-paying Cleveland CBSA would not cure all of Forum’s financial ills, but the additional $2 million to $4 million a year in Medicare reimbursement revenue would help, Ryan said.
Forum Health recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Ryan said Forum will have to continue looking for ways to generate more revenue and cut costs, including looking at contracts with its employees.
Ryan said he is “cautiously optimistic” about finding a bill on which to add the wage indexing amendment. But, he said, there will be strong opposition — because if hospitals here gain, others will lose money.
He said efforts to change reimbursement areas for Mahoning and Trumbull county hospitals passed the Legislature in 2007 and 2008, but were vetoed by former President George W. Bush.
“We are making sure everyone in Washington knows there are thousands of jobs at stake. When you have a hospital [system] going bankrupt and a high level of charity care, you have a pretty good argument for helping those hospitals,” Ryan said.
The biggest challenge is the budget, which is very tight because of the war and huge economic problems. But, Ryan said, “We’re going to keep fighting and see what we can do.”
alcorn@vindy.com