New York's Senator
CHARLES E. SCHUMER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 21, 2000
SCHUMER: NEW YORK CITY HOSPITALS
TO RECEIVE MEDICARE RELIEF PACKAGE OF
MORE THAN $405 MILLION
Funding is part of $1.6 billion in new funding
NY will receive for Hospitals, Children's Health Insurance and Medicare
programs
US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the
Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Benefits Improvement Act of 2000 (BIPA)
passed by Congress last week includes more than $405 million to help
New York City hospitals deal with federal spending cuts previously
scheduled to go into effect this year.
These spending cuts were included in the landmark
Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) that reformed Medicare payment
policies in an effort to get rid of the government's accumulated
deficits. While these cost-cutting measures helped create today's
federal budget surpluses, some of them cut payments to health providers
more than expected, including $104 billion unintended cuts to hospitals
and hospital-based providers nationwide. BIPA restores $35 billion
of this funding over five years nationwide
"Some strong medicine was administered
to get the government's books
in order and it's time to decrease the dosage," Schumer said.
"These cuts were threatening to put hospitals on permanent
life support."
New York hospitals will receive more than $751 million over five
years which, on top of
the $630 million they got in last year's Balanced Budget Refinement
Act (BBRA), will make up a sizeable portion of the unintended 1997
cuts. The final version of the bill contains an additional $25 million
for New York that Schumer fought for in last-minute, behind-the-scenes
negotiations. It also
has $800 million for children's health insurance, an estimated $116
million in additional managed care reimbursements, and more. Schumer
played a critical role in winning this funding for New York's health
programs and helped stave off millions in potential cuts to the
State's Medicaid programs.
New York City hospitals will receive a total of $405 million, including:
Beth Israel Medical Center: $18.725 million; Bronx-Lebanon Hospital
Center: $5.5 million; Brookdale University Hospital and Medical
Center: $7.7 million; Cabrini Medical Center: $6.2 million; Catholic
Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens: $10.3 million; Doctors Hospital
of Staten Island: $526,000; Bellevue Hospital Center: $9.6 million;
Coney Island Hospital: $3.9 million; Elmhurst Hospital Center: $4.8
million; Harlem Hospital Center $3.5 million; Jacob Medical Center:
$4.8 million; King's County Hospital Center: $4.4 million; Lincoln
Medical and Mental Health Center: $4.5 million; Metropolitan Hospital
Center: $3 million; North Central Bronx Hospital: $1.1 million;
Queens Hospital Center: $2 million; Hospital for Special Surgery:
$4 million; Woodhull Medical Center: $3.3 million; Hospital for
Joint Diseases Orthopaedic Institute: $1.3 million; Interfaith Medical
Center: $2.5 million; Jamaica Hospital Medical Center: $6.1 million;
Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center: $4.7 million; Lenox Hill Hospital:
$11.2 million; Long Island College Hospital: $8.5 million; Long
Jewish Medical Center: $15 million; Lutheran Medical Center: $4.9
million; Maimonides Medical Center: $17.8 million; Manhattan Eye,
Ear and Throat Hospital: $668,000 million; Montafiore Medical Center:$29.6
million; Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens: $1.3 million; New York
and Presbyterian Hospitals: $38.1 million; New
York Flushing Hospital Medical Center: $4.1 million; New York Hospital
Medical Center of Queens: $9 million; New York Methodist Hospital:
$11.1 million; North General Hospital: $1.7 million; North Shore
University Hospital at Forest Hills: $2.4 million; NYU Downtown
Hospital: $2.4; Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center: $6.7 million;
Parkway Hospital: $2.6 million; Peninsula Hospital Center: $4.3
million; Sisters of Charity: $5.2 million; St. Clare's Hospital
and Health Center: $1 million; St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital: $17
million; St. Vincent's Hospital: $11.3 million; Staten Island University
Hospital: $10.9 million; SUNY Health Science Center of Brooklyn:
$3.9 million; The Brooklyn Hospital Center: $7.6 million; The Mount
Sinai Medical Center: $29.8 million; The New York Community Hospital
of Brooklyn: $1.6 million; The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary: $1
million; NYU Hospitals Center: $12.1 million; Union Hospitals of
the Bronx: $84,000; Victory Memorial Hospital: $2.3 million; Westchester:
$1.9 million; Wyckoff Heights Medical Center: $4.7 million; St.
Barnabas Hospital: $5.7 million.
"This bill funds hospitals that need the most help,"
Schumer said. " Teaching hospitals, small community and rural
hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and hospitals that disproportionately
care for the uninsured will benefit. It's not a cure-all but it
will keep many needed health services available."
Overall, New York teaching hospitals will get $168 million under
BIPA, part of which comes from an increase in the Medicare "add
on" rate which helps hospitals cover the costs of their teaching
responsibilities. Under the 1997 BBA, this "add-on" rate
was slated to be reduced to 6.375% next year. Schumer successfully
delayed this reduction, keeping the rate at 6.5% for the next two
years.
New York hospitals will also receive $411 million because of an
improvement to the "marketbasket update," the amount home
health, hospice and skilled nursing facilities receive as an inflation
adjustment to their Medicare payments. Under current law, this reimbursement
was scheduled to be at just 2% this year and next. Under BIPA, it
will stay at the original 3.1 % this year and 2.55% for the two
years after that.
Finally, New York hospitals who offer care to a disproportionate
share (DSH) of low-income and uninsured patients will receive $14
million in restored DSH Payments. Rural and small community hospitals
in New York will receive an additional $29 million through increased
eligibility for Medicare DSH dollars, $7 million of which were secured
by Schumer in last-minute negotiations. New York home health agencies
will recoup $27 million in funding cuts slated to take place this
year. Schumer successfully pushed to delay this cut for at least
a year. Finally, New York hospital-based hospices will receive $6
million in new funding, thanks to a 5% increase in the hospice rate.
In addition to the hospital funding, the bill will send an additional
$812 million to New York though federal Children's Health Insurance
Program (CHIP) dollars. The new money is due to a change in CHIP
funding distribution which provides nine states - including New
York - that have best used CHIP dollars to set up health programs
for children with additional funding for their programs.
New York managed care providers will also receive
an estimated increase of $116 million under BIPA.
Lastly, BIPA keeps $475 million going to New York
that would have been cut by a new Health Care Financing Administration
(HCFA) regulation aimed at cracking down on Medicaid funding abuses.
While the rule was initially slated to be implemented immediately,
Schumer negotiated a delay for four years to ensure that states
like New York who depend on federal matching funds for important
health programs have time to adjust and are able to maintain these
services.
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