GOP tax cut would cost more than effort to save hospitals

For years now, Gov. Phil Bryant (R - Mississippi) has refused to adopt the new method of reimbursing hospitals for care provided to those without insurance and unable to pay.  This has driven a good number of our Mississippi hospitals to the brink of closure, and some straight into bankruptcy.  The reason he always gives is "we can't afford it."

Well, here's a comparison of the cost of the tax cut plan before the House today and the costs associated with the new method of hospital reimbursement:

2016
Tax Cut: $12.3M
Hospital Reimbursement: $29M

2017
Tax Cut: $56.2M
Hospital Reimbursement: $94M

2018
Tax Cut: $108.6M
Hospital Reimbursement: $108M

2019
Tax Cut: $166.8
Hospital Reimbursement: $124M

2020
Tax Cut: $233.7M
Hospital Reimbursement: $167M

Total cost from 2016-2020:
Tax Cut: $577.6M
Hospital Reimbursement: $522M

(Source: Lt. Governor’s office tax cut data and  “An Economic Analysis of the State and Local Impact

of Medicaid Expansion in Mississippi” David Becker and Michael Morrisey, November 2013)

Now, I may be a graduate of our chronically underfunded Mississippi public schools, but even I can understand when I'm being sold a bill of goods.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering (R) releases report on rural hospitals; future "bleak"

A dozen days ago, State Auditor Stacey Pickering (R) released his office's report on the health of Mississippi's rural hospitals.  If you've been paying attention to this blog for the last 18 months or so, you won't be surprised at the findings in Pickering's report: those rural hospitals are dying on the vine.

You also won't be surprised as to the main reason the rural hospitals are suffering:  reductions in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to those hospitals under the Affordable Care Act.  

The Mississippi Business Journal published an article on this today worth reading.  In it, there are some pretty heavy predictions from Mendal Kemp, director of the Mississippi Hospital Association’s Center for Rural Health.  From the article:

Gov. Phil Bryant and legislative leaders refused the expansion knowing the risk of losing the money but have indicated they do not believe the federal government will ultimately remove the money. They cite the Obama administration’s two-year extension of a deadline to begin lowering the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments. 

Kemp and others say the threat of losing DSH payments is real and should be seen as a promise that the ACA requires the government to keep. 

“Year two is going to surprise a lot of folks,” says Kemp, referring to the end of the two-year extension of the close of the federal government’s 2015 fiscal year. 

“Without some help… I see the future looking very bleak.”

The only real question left isn't whether the federal government will follow through with DSH cuts. They will.  The question is will Mississippians re-elect politicians in 2015 who stubbornly refuse to accept repayment of our own tax dollars to protect our hospitals?