And travel more
Faustmanlab.org
Pubmed.org faustman DL
Pubmed.org. RISTORI +. Bcg
The hhc may administer Bcg and treat autoimmune diseases.
When multidrug resistant tb appears on the mta people would be glad to be vaccinated with Bcg
As for may of us we would rather be healthier
Lawyers, Feds, bureaucrats need to read of science and art
Nigerian pension funds will soon be siphoning those with autoimmune diseases to Nigeria for safe
Effective treatment that hhc does not provide because they have never been to Boston or Italy or read faustman or ristori
New York City’s public hospital system is looking at a major cash squeeze within four years if federal cuts to hospitals serving large numbers of poor and uninsured patients take place as scheduled, according to a report by the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, to be released on Monday.
Beginning in 2017, the federal government will begin cutting subsidies to those hospitals, based on the theory that since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which has insured millions of Americans, hospitals will no longer need the same level of subsidies for uncompensated care.
But Mr. Stringer’s report says that the city’s hospital system will not benefit as much as expected from the Affordable Care Act insurance plans because the system continues to serve a high proportion of undocumented immigrants, who are not eligible for coverage under the act.
In the health law’s first year, the number of uninsured patients the system treated dropped by only 1.3 percent, the report said; another decrease of 7.2 percent is projected by 2019.
More strikingly, the city’s hospital system has not attracted enough newly insured patients to give it the revenue increase it would need to make up for the loss of federal funds, the report says.
“We have a solemn commitment to fund H.H.C. so that it can serve everyone who walks through the door, regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay,” Mr. Stringer said in a statement, referring to the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs the public hospitals. “That’s why we need to find a real cure for these cuts, not just apply a Band-Aid.”
The 11-hospital system expects to face a deficit of more than $1 billion in fiscal year 2017, which will grow in subsequent years, the report said. The city’s taxpayers are ultimately responsible for filling that gap.
The report projects that the system’s cash on hand, an indicator of financial stability, will drop to $44 million, from $1 billion, by 2019-2020, largely because of the projected $827 million loss in federal “disproportionate share” subsidies.
Dr. Ram Raju, president of the hospitals corporation, said he was working with the city to mitigate the cuts. He said he was also trying to persuade the state to change its methodology for financing charity care, which he said put the corporation “last on the line.”
He agreed that undocumented immigrant care was a problem. “The Affordable Care Act did not bring in everybody,” Dr. Raju said. “It left behind a group of people. They have no way of getting insurance, and most of them are served by our system.”
The three hospitals most affected by the burden of caring for uninsured immigrants are Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens and Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn, the report said.
City officials have long predicted that the cuts would hurt New York City more than other parts of the country because of its large number of immigrants.
But the report raises another surprising factor: the failure of the hospitals corporation’s entry into the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange to produce as much revenue as expected.
The hospital system was counting on its MetroPlus insurance plan, newly sold on the state exchange, to attract young people of modest means to city hospitals, despite their image as a last resort for the poor. But MetroPlus has not been as successful as expected, with about a third of the 45,000 new subscribers dropping out within the first year, the report said, adding that the decline was because members failed to pay their premiums, among other reasons.
Mr. Stringer said that revenue from new enrollment in MetroPlus was expected to offset only about 28 percent of the federal cuts.
The report calls on the federal government to delay the cuts until their impact can be better assessed, and for the state government to explore the feasibility of using its own funds to cover undocumented immigrants.
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