Baker adds $800M to hospitals bailout
State’s cash-strapped health care system taking hit amid pandemic
The state is committing another $800 million to bail out hospitals and health care facilities strapped for cash after cutting lucrative elective surgeries in preparation for a coming surge in coronavirus patients, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday.
“Doctors, nurses and medical workers have been stepping up in unprecedented ways to slow the disease. At the same time, the organizations that employ these folks have had their operating models totally disrupted by both COVID-19 and also many of the decisions and orders that we’ve issued to make sure that we were properly prepared for the surge,” Baker told reporters during a press conference at the State House.
Half of the cash from the new stabilization fund will be split between 28 hospitals treating COVID-19 patients that also serve a large segment dependant on Medicaid, the governor said. The rest will go to nursing facilities, community health centers, personal care attendants, behavioral health providers, home health agencies that have dedicated wards or care toward keeping coronavirus patients out of hospitals.
Tuesday’s announcement totals more than $1.6 billion in state funds directed toward the health care system since March when state officials ordered hospitals to cancel non-essential elective surgeries.
Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association estimated hospitals are losing $1 billion per month as revenues from those lucrative procedures has evaporated. The dip in procedures has also left MassHealth with more money to distribute, which Baker said combined with a higher federal reimbursement rate for coronavirus care under a recent stimulus bill would make up a “big piece” of the funding.
“We want to make sure (hospitals) are prepared clinically and we also want to make sure they stay in shape financially,” Baker said.
The state and it’s health care systems are bracing for a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations expected to hit as soon as Friday and last through April 20.
Baker also highlighted a program ramping up on-site testing at long-term care facilities in partnership with the National Guard, saying “there is no population at greater risk” of COVID-19. At least 958 residents or employees across 129 facilities had tested positive for the virus as of Tuesday, the state Department of Public Health confirmed.
Mobile testing units have completed 1,350 tests at 80 facilities across the state in the past week, Baker said.