Mike Burke, Director of Marketing & Public Relations at Sacred Heart Health System says. “If the proposed budget cuts go through, Sacred Heart’s reimbursement would be cut by 4 percent or another $1.5 million annually. With the new reductions, Medicaid will pay us only 85 percent of our costs.”
Sacred Heart is the largest provider of Medicaid and charity care in Northwest Florida. It provides more charity care and more uncompensated care for Medicaid patients than any other hospital in the region.
“For years, Medicaid’s reimbursements to hospitals have not fully covered the hospital’s cost of caring for Medicaid patient,” Burke says. “Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola currently lose $5.3 million a year treating Medicaid patients because payments are inadequate.”
He also points out that for every additional $1 in state money cut from the Medicaid program, Florida loses $1.27 in federal matching money.