CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The president of the West Virginia Hospital Association predicts there will be “more bubbles bursting” in health care in the Mountain State with increasing number of residents covered by government-backed health insurance programs.
During an appearance Thursday on MetroNews “Talkline,” WVHA President Joe Letnaunchyn said this week’s announcement of program and job cuts by Charleston Area Medical Center probably won’t be the only hospital to do so.
“I think there are stories around the state that are there but they’re’ just not as prominent because CAMC, due to their size and their number of employees and the number of patients they serve, this is a big issue,” Letnaunchyn said.
CAMC announced Wednesday it had combined or eliminated five health care programs and would also cut 300 jobs before end of the year. The hospital system has been hit hard by the state’s rough economy and the expanding patient numbers covered by Medicaid, Medicare and PEIA, which don’t pay the full cost of care.
“That’s 75, maybe 78 or 80 percent of your patients, depending on the hospital, those facilities are all being paid below the cost of providing the care,” Letnaunchyn said.
Only 17 percent of CAMC’s patients are covered by commercial insurance carriers.
Letnaunchyn predicts hospitals will begin cutting their programs that benefit the communities they serve to save money.
“The tough decision has to be made by the (hospital) board, ‘We’re going to keep the hospital open but we may get rid of some of those secondary services that we do for the benefit of the community,'” Letnaunchyn said.
Some state lawmakers have spoken about cutting funding for Medicaid but Letnaunchyn said that would put the hospitals in a tougher spot.
“There’s not a reduction in government size, there’s not a reduction in operations, it turns right to provider cuts,” he said.