Thursday, December 19, 2013

Mississippi Hospital Massive Income Inequality Points To Need For Medicaid Expansion

I reviewed  certain key data related to the 65 individual Mississippi Hospitals contained in the excellent American Hospital Directory's (AHD) website.  There was one Hospital with no Gross Patient Revenues, therefore it was excluded below.

What I found was an absolutely incredible difference in Hospital Net Income relative to how large a Hospital is in terms of its number of hospital beds.  Here is a summary for 2012:



Average

# of Hospital
# of Hospital Net Income
Hospitals Beds 000s



6 More Than 400 $21,037
12 Between 200 and 400 $12,216
20 Between 100 and 200 $7,951
26 100 or Less $205

When the 6 Mississippi Hospitals with more than 400 hospital beds generate an Average Net Income of $21,037,000 in 2012, while the 26 Mississippi Hospitals with 100 or fewer hospital beds post an Average Net Income of only $205,000 in 2012.....a meager 1.0% of the $21,037,000.....there is a very serious Hospital Income Inequality Problem in Mississippi.

And when the 12 Mississippi Hospitals with between 200 and 400 hospital beds generate an Average Net Income of $12,216,000 in 2012, while the 26 Mississippi Hospitals with hospital beds of 100 or less post an Average Net Income of only $205,000 in 2012.....a meager 1.7% of the $12,216,000..... yes there is a very serious Hospital Income Inequality Problem in Mississippi.

And when the 20 Mississippi Hospitals with between 100 and 200 hospital beds generate an Average Net Income of $7,951,000 in 2012, while the 26 Mississippi Hospitals with hospital beds of 100 or less post an Average Net Income of only $205,000 in 2012.....a meager 2.6% of the $7,951,000.....yes indeed there is a very serious Hospital Income Inequality Problem in Mississippi.  US Health Care and its giant costs will not be fixed until the profits and losses of both the bottom rungs and the top rungs of the profit and loss ladders of Hospitals all throughout the US are properly and equitably fixed. 

The main driver of these very weak profit numbers for these 26 small Mississippi Hospitals were the very high percentage of uninsured and underinsured Mississippi residents, particularly in the smaller Mississippi communities, with the resultant abnormally high levels of both Total Bad Debt Earnings Charges and Uncompensated Charity Care Earnings Charges relative to Net Patient Revenues.

The best way to provide the needed financial boost to all Mississippi Hospitals, but especially to the many small ones, is to simply Expand Medicaid Fully in Mississippi.  This will substantially reduce two Hospital Operating Statement Earnings Charges.....Provisions for Bad Debts and Uncompensated Charity Care Costs, thereby substantially boosting Earnings of these Mississippi Hospitals. 

Frankly I think that by Mississippi Government Leaders refusing to Expand Medicaid, they are not acting in the best interests of a clear majority of their State's citizens.  Let me explain. 

First, it's the present high percentage of Mississippi residents who are either Uninsured or Underinsured, most of whom would be getting fair and decent health care coverage with the Affordable Care Act in combination with the Full Expansion of Medicaid.

Second, as explained earlier, all Mississippi Hospitals, but especially ones providing emergency care to the many indigent populations in the smaller rural areas, will have their Bottom Line Earnings as well as their Net Assets, or measure of financial strength, substantially bolstered with Full Medicaid Expansion.

Granted these two huge Hospital Earnings Charges.....Provision for Bad Debts and Uncompensated Charity Care Costs.....will not be totally eliminated with Full Expansion of Medicaid in Mississippi, but a substantial portion of them will be.

And third, many of these Mississippi Hospitals are Government Hospitals, with many of them being at least partially financed with taxes paid by Mississippi citizens.  Full Expansion of Medicaid should substantially improve the Earnings and Losses now being registered by these Mississippi Governmental Hospitals.  Thus it is only logical that not as many taxes will be needed after Full Expansion of Medicaid in Mississippi.  So it's not just the presently uninsured and underinsured who will benefit from the Full Medicaid Expansion in Mississippi.  So will all Mississippi taxpayers who in all fairness should be getting tax cuts.
 
From the excellent AHD website, below here are the Number of Beds and Net Income or Net Losses of each of these 64 Mississippi individual Hospitals in 2012, presented in declining bed size:



Net

Mississippi # of Income
Mississippi Hospital Name City Beds (Loss)



$000s




Baptist Medical Center Jackson       618           13,563
University of Mississippi Medical Center Jackson       618             4,013
North Mississippi Medical Center - Tupelo Tupelo       611           51,381
Saint Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital Jackson       527           19,922
Memorial Hospital Gulfport       445             7,018
Forrest General Hospital Hattiesburg       436           30,326
Singing River Hospital Pascagoula       389               575
Central Mississippi Medical Center Jackson       365           30,142
Baptist Memorial Hospital - DeSoto Southaven       339           23,738
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Golden Triangle Columbus       328           14,612
River Region Medical Center Vicksburg       297           17,536
South Central Regional Medical Center Laurel       268             5,720
Anderson Regional Medical Center Meridian       260             4,242
Greenwood Leflore Hospital Greenwood       228             3,848
Baptist Memorial Hospital - North Mississippi Oxford       217           32,498
Delta Regional Medical Center Greenville       215             2,449
Wesley Medical Center Hattiesburg       211           13,149
Neshoba County General Hospital Philadelphia       208           (1,915)
Biloxi Regional Medical Center Biloxi       198           12,209
Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center Clarksdale       195             9,644
Winston Medical Center Louisville       185               719
Rush Foundation Hospital Meridian       182           10,334
Natchez Regional Medical Center Natchez       179              (577)
Bolivar Medical Center Cleveland       165             1,868
Magnolia Regional Health Center Corinth       164             9,209
River Oaks Hospital Flowood       158           40,199
Grenada Lake Medical Center Grenada       156               369
Crossgates River Oaks Hospital Brandon       149             8,885
Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center McComb       140             2,215
Garden Park Medical Center Gulfport       130             9,075
Methodist Rehabilitation Center Jackson       124             8,728
Trace Regional Hospital Houston       120             2,620
King's Daughters Medical Center Brookhaven       119             9,106
Tri-Lakes Medical Center Batesville       112             2,632
Alliance Health Center Meridian       109           12,739
Woman's Hospital Jackson       109             9,006
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Union County New Albany       103             5,013
Natchez Community Hospital Natchez       101             5,029
Oktibbeha County Hospital Starkville        96             1,825
Gilmore Memorial Regional Medical Center Amory        95             7,220
Tippah County Hospital Ripley        95           (1,185)
Montfort Jones Memorial Hospital Kosciusko        72           (2,155)
Wayne General Hospital Waynesboro        70                (37)
Anderson Regional Medical Center South Meridian        69         (13,418)
Madison River Oaks Medical Center Canton        67                  (5)
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Booneville Booneville        66              (227)
North Mississippi Medical Center - West Point West Point        60           (1,280)
Highland Community Hospital Picayune        56           (1,644)
Magee General Hospital Magee        53               771
South Sunflower County Hospital Indianola        49             1,993
North Mississippi Medical Center - Iuka Iuka        48           (2,084)
Hancock Medical Center Bay Saint Louis        47           11,820
George Regional Hospital Lucedale        43               417
Marion General Hospital Columbia        43           (1,009)
North Oak Regional Medical Center Senatobia        41               534
Alliance Hospital Holly Springs        40             1,439
North Mississippi Medical Center - Eupora Eupora        38               204
Beacham Memorial Hospital Magnolia        37              (312)
Jefferson County Hospital Fayette        30             2,692
Sharkey-Issaquena Community Hospital Rolling Fork        29              (202)
Yalobusha General Hospital Water Valley        26                (42)
Jasper General Hospital Bay Springs        20               690
Kilmichael Hospital Kilmichael        19                 36
Patients Choice Medical Center of Smith County Raleigh        10              (706)




Total all 64
 10,797         437,174




Average Hospital Net Income

            6,831