Congress Should Address Patient Delays for Needed Care
September 21, 2022
The health care labor shortage, coupled with inflation pressures, is significantly and adversely impacting patients' timely access to care.
I recently joined leaders from the American Hospital Association, Main Line Health in Philadelphia and Ouachita County Medical Center in Arkansas to discuss how these challenges are impacting patients and communities. Health system leaders are sending up a distress flare about the ability to provide the care and services our communities need and depend on, and the future of health care in this country. Across the Trinity Health 25-state footprint, approximately 12% of our beds, 5% of our operating rooms, and 13% of our emergency rooms are temporarily closed. Closures mean patients must wait to receive needed care. We're also seeing delays for specialty care, primary care, home care, and diagnostic testing.
At this event, the American Hospital Association released a new report showing hospitals and health systems continue to face intense workforce pressure while also confronting rising expenses for supplies, drugs and equipment. The most optimistic projections for 2022 indicate margins will be down 37% compared to pre-pandemic levels, with more than half of American hospitals operating in the red. Reimbursement rates are simply not keeping up with inflation and wage adjustments.
It is not just CEOs speaking out. Health system trustees are also very concerned with delays in patient care. The Trinity Health Board of Directors recently sent a letter to the Biden Administration urging policymakers to ensure all providers are paid fair Medicare rates that reflect the true cost of delivering care in this new environment.
Congress must also be part of the solution. Congress should eliminate pending Medicare cuts, invest in the health care workforce pipeline, expedite the shift to total cost of care models, and stop egregious payment delay practices by Medicare Advantage plans.
2022 is projected to be the most difficult year for health care providers since the beginning of the pandemic. Together, we must protect patients from even longer care delays and ensure that all providers are paid timely and commensurately with the dramatically increased costs of providing care.
I recently joined leaders from the American Hospital Association, Main Line Health in Philadelphia and Ouachita County Medical Center in Arkansas to discuss how these challenges are impacting patients and communities. Health system leaders are sending up a distress flare about the ability to provide the care and services our communities need and depend on, and the future of health care in this country. Across the Trinity Health 25-state footprint, approximately 12% of our beds, 5% of our operating rooms, and 13% of our emergency rooms are temporarily closed. Closures mean patients must wait to receive needed care. We're also seeing delays for specialty care, primary care, home care, and diagnostic testing.
At this event, the American Hospital Association released a new report showing hospitals and health systems continue to face intense workforce pressure while also confronting rising expenses for supplies, drugs and equipment. The most optimistic projections for 2022 indicate margins will be down 37% compared to pre-pandemic levels, with more than half of American hospitals operating in the red. Reimbursement rates are simply not keeping up with inflation and wage adjustments.
It is not just CEOs speaking out. Health system trustees are also very concerned with delays in patient care. The Trinity Health Board of Directors recently sent a letter to the Biden Administration urging policymakers to ensure all providers are paid fair Medicare rates that reflect the true cost of delivering care in this new environment.
Congress must also be part of the solution. Congress should eliminate pending Medicare cuts, invest in the health care workforce pipeline, expedite the shift to total cost of care models, and stop egregious payment delay practices by Medicare Advantage plans.
2022 is projected to be the most difficult year for health care providers since the beginning of the pandemic. Together, we must protect patients from even longer care delays and ensure that all providers are paid timely and commensurately with the dramatically increased costs of providing care.