missouri news

St. Louis Beacon: Local business and medical leaders react to health care summit, 2/26/10
Obama said the two parties might be able to reach agreement on 95 percent of the issues, but he says expanded coverage and pre-existing conditions may turn out to be gaps that cannot be closed.

Missourinet: House passes autism measure, sends it to Senate, 2/18/10
Health insurers regulated by the state would have to cover treatment for autism under a bill that has passed the House and moved to the Senate.

Kansas City Star: Tentative cuts made in Missouri's social services budget, 2/16/10
A Missouri House committee slashed nearly $60 million from social-service programs in next year's budget, including funding for health clinics, child care subsidies, and assistance to victims of domestic violence.

national news

Wall Street Journal: More talk, no deal at health summit, 2/26/10
The nationally televised session stretched over more than seven hours and, to no one's surprise, yielded no new agreement.

NPR: Health care no stranger to reconciliation process, 2/24/10
To reconcile or not to reconcile -- when it comes to a health overhaul bill, that seems to be the biggest argument of the moment.

The Missoulian: News analysis: Latest health care proposal includes some new, some old ideas, 2/22/10
Obama definitely throws in a new twist or two, such as proposals for federal oversight of health insurance rates and making it illegal for brand-name drug manufacturers to delay release of generic competitors.

The latest news is available at
www.CoverMissouri.org

cover missouri feature

Charity Care at Missouri's Hospitals
Findings show more uncompensated care provided

Missouri Foundation for Health has just released Charity Care at Missouri Hospitals: 2004 to 2006, prepared by the St. Louis Business Health Coalition. A number of studies have examined the impact of the 2005 changes to Medicaid on the newly uninsured. This report looks at how the loss of coverage has affected 40 Missouri hospitals, using data on uncompensated care and emergency department use.

Uncompensated care can be defined as care that a hospital does not expect to receive payment for providing. Two types of uncompensated care are examined in this report: charity care (health care services that are never expected to result in payment) and bad debt (health care services billed to patients that go unpaid).

The report finds that following the 2005 Medicaid reductions, hospitals provided more uncompensated care. Specifically, from 2005 to 2006:

Charity care increased from $73.8 million to $113.8 million (54% increase), and
Bad debt rose from $163.8 million to $219 million (34% increase).

Also, bad debt has grown by 50 percent since 2004 and continues to grow at a faster rate than reported charity care.

Moving forward, Missouri hospitals are expected to face additional financial pressure due to increases in uncompensated care from a weakened economy, the rise in unemployment, and an increase in uninsured.

Learn more:
Executive Summary
Report

Cover Missouri is a project of the Missouri Foundation for Health. Learn more here.