In the midst of a financial crisis for rural and local hospitals, Mississippi lawmakers are considering a package of measures to try to keep more health care operations in business. “Our hospitals are going through a situation where their hospital reimbursement has remained the same and their cost of business has skyrocketed,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said. “That has (come) from both nurses and labor and the costs of running any entity in our nation today.”One measure proposes $80 million in reimbursement fees for hospitals that, according to a Mississippi Hospital Association report, are in the red by some $200 million.”Our hospitals are some of the lowest-cost hospitals in the country. The problem has been, simply, revenue,” said Richard Roberson, general counsel for MHA.The problems they say are compounded by a lack of Medicaid expansion that would provide revenues to cover more poor Mississippians. Hospitals are not only struggling with income but holding onto nurses. Reportedly the state has lost more than 3,000 nurses since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One measure proposes paying off student loan debt for nurses if they work in a hospital in Mississippi.”It is a loan repayment program where we repay $6,000 a year; $18,000 to retire student debt for our nurses,” Hosemann said.The price tag for that and other measures is coming from the state’s share of American Rescue Plan Act monies. There are also grants in the package for hospitals to use to hold onto resident doctors, train more nurses at community colleges and allow more struggling hospitals to pool their resources and cut costs.
In the midst of a financial crisis for rural and local hospitals, Mississippi lawmakers are considering a package of measures to try to keep more health care operations in business.
“Our hospitals are going through a situation where their hospital reimbursement has remained the same and their cost of business has skyrocketed,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said. “That has (come) from both nurses and labor and the costs of running any entity in our nation today.”
One measure proposes $80 million in reimbursement fees for hospitals that, according to a Mississippi Hospital Association report, are in the red by some $200 million.
“Our hospitals are some of the lowest-cost hospitals in the country. The problem has been, simply, revenue,” said Richard Roberson, general counsel for MHA.
The problems they say are compounded by a lack of Medicaid expansion that would provide revenues to cover more poor Mississippians.
Hospitals are not only struggling with income but holding onto nurses. Reportedly the state has lost more than 3,000 nurses since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One measure proposes paying off student loan debt for nurses if they work in a hospital in Mississippi.
“It is a loan repayment program where we repay $6,000 a year; $18,000 to retire student debt for our nurses,” Hosemann said.
The price tag for that and other measures is coming from the state’s share of American Rescue Plan Act monies. There are also grants in the package for hospitals to use to hold onto resident doctors, train more nurses at community colleges and allow more struggling hospitals to pool their resources and cut costs.
