Re: And so it begins: hospital budget cuts usa

[Guest guest]

So this means that there will be more sick people left without care. I guess it's better to let them die rather than take care of them. I can see that hospitals do need to be budget-wise, but to curtain services to the poor is just unethical.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Eleanor Roosevelt

From: <rumjal@...>Subject: [Flu] And so it begins: hospital budget cuts usaFlu Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008, 11:07 AM

Boston Medical to cut staff, servicesReductions likely to hurt patients with low income; Center will severits ties with hospital in QuincyBy Kay Lazar, Globe Staff / December 18, 2008Facing $114 million in state budget cuts, Boston Medical Centerannounced yesterday that 250 employees will be laid off or have theirhours reduced and that patient services will be cut in key areas,including primary care, pediatrics, and geriatrics.More than half of the hospital's patients are low-income residents, sothe reductions are likely to hit hardest on the city's mostvulnerable, the immigrants, poor families, and senior citizens whoreceive free or subsidized care at the hospital, patient advocatessaid. The cuts were to take effect immediately.Hospital president and chief executive Elaine Ullian said they will,at a minimum, mean that patients will face longer waits forappointments and for phone

calls to be answered.The medical center is seeing an unprecedented number of patients, andthat has forced the institution to make tough choices, she said."Seventy-five percent of our pediatric service is for indigentchildren," Ullian said. "Eighty-three percent of our neonatalintensive care unit is Medicaid babies. Seventy-six percent ofobstetrics is [for] Medicaid women. So we decided to diminish theaccess, so everyone takes a hit, but not shut down an entire service."While declining to say how many layoffs there will be, Ullian said asignificant number of interpreters will be cut from the staff. The 30percent of the patient population that does not speak English willhave to wait longer for language services, she said.The hospital also announced it would end its support next June ofQuincy Medical Center, another institution serving many immigrants oflimited means. For the past

decade, Boston Medical Center has sentphysicians to work with and teach Quincy's doctors, in addition toproviding financial assistance.The worsening economy has produced widespread job losses, costing manytheir health insurance. That is boosting the ranks of those relying onpublicly subsidized healthcare, and Boston Medical Center, with aworkforce of 6,016, is the state's largest hospital provider of suchservices.For the hospital to make cuts in staff and services now isshort-sighted, said Mike Fadel, executive vice president of 1199SEIUUnited Healthcare Workers East, which represents most of thehealthcare workers and support staff to be laid off by Boston MedicalCenter."The healthcare workers who end up out the door will end up relying onthe very services that will be curtailed, one of the ironies of thesefunding cuts," Fadel said.SEIU and the consumer group Health Care for

All are lobbying GovernorDeval and state lawmakers to use federal funds, expected aspart of a national economic stimulus package, to make up for the statecuts in healthcare services announced earlier this year, includingthose at Boston Medical Center."Our job will be to continue to remind the administration that thismoney has to be spent on healthcare and ensuring that consumers haveaccess to those services," said Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, executivedirector of Health Care for All.The state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services recognizesthat Boston Medical Center is a "really important partner in providinghealthcare services, particularly to low-income populations, " said Kritz, spokeswoman for the office. She said it is workingwith the hospital in "identifying a whole range of strategies thatwould mitigate the reductions," but declined to elaborate.Even with

the cuts, Boston Medical Center is expected to get $1.57billion in state funding this fiscal year, she said, and thatrepresents 31 percent of all of the state's payments to hospitals,physicians, and managed-care organizations.Cambridge Health Alliance - which includes hospitals in Cambridge,Somerville, and Everett - is the second-largest safety net providerfor the poor and is expected to receive $956 million this fiscal yearin subsidy, Kritz said. The Alliance is also facing millions ofdollars in state budget cuts and is expected to announce cuts in staffand services soon.State lawmakers earmarked special Medicaid payments for Boston MedicalCenter and Cambridge Health Alliance as part of the 2006 Massachusettshealth insurance law because they treat a disproportionately largenumber of low-income patients. Those payments are slated to end nextyear, but the state said a few months ago that it

would not reimburseBoston Medical Center for $64 million in healthcare the centerprovided last year under the program. That cut is in addition to the$114 million reduction the hospital says it now faces for 2009.Given the magnitude of the shortfall, the layoffs and service cutsannounced yesterday are probably not the last, said Ullian, thehospital's president."We understand," she said, "that there is work ahead for us."http://www.boston. com/news/ local/massachuse tts/articles/ 2008/12/18/ boston_medical_ to_cut_staff_ services/

[Guest guest]

And this is just the beginning of the financial crisis. We are only

halfway through the first wave. Some say that there are many more

waves of collapse coming. We need national health care now!

>

> So this means that there will be more sick people left without

care. I guess it's better to let them die rather than take care of

them. I can see that hospitals do need to be budget-wise, but to

curtain services to the poor is just unethical.

>

> Do one thing every day that scares you.

> Eleanor Roosevelt

[Guest guest]

Bailout approved: Automakers to get $17.4B

http://news./s/ap/20081219/ap_on_bi_ge/meltdown_autos

But what about the bailout that this hospital needs?

That is surely more important.

>

> So this means that there will be more sick people left without

care. I guess it's better to let them die rather than take care of

them. I can see that hospitals do need to be budget-wise, but to

curtain services to the poor is just unethical.

>

>

>

> Do one thing every day that scares you.

> Eleanor Roosevelt

[Guest guest]

And will there be any money left to pay out when the homeless and the

unemployed and the underemployed and students who know that there are

no jobs for them get together to riot?

>

> And what are they going to do with all this money? How many fat

cats will get a pile of moolah from this caper?

>

>

>

> Do one thing every day that scares you.

> Eleanor Roosevelt