CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Healthcare providers are imploring lawmakers to continue supporting new employment opportunities in West Virginia as the state’s population makes it difficult to hire and retain doctors.
Thursday marked Hospital Day at the Capitol, and one of the issues that healthcare leaders are concerned about is the ratio of residents on government-funded health insurance compared to those on employer-sponsored care.
“The average hospital in West Virginia is 75% governmental payer—Medicaid, Medicare, PEIA. All three of them pay providers less than the cost of care. Our commercial population, which pays more, is only 25 percent,” West Virginia Hospital Association CEO and President Jim Kaufman said on MetroNews Talkline.
Because the government-funded care pays at a lower rate, according to Kaufman, that means providers are left with less money on hand and, as a result, less money to pay doctors. He believes West Virginia’s payer mix is a significant problem for physician recruitment and retention.
“The other challenge we have is not only, ‘How do we produce them?'” he said, ‘How do we keep them here?’ because one of our challenges—when you look at the average salary for some of the positions in hospitals—is that we’re anywhere from five to 20 percent below surrounding states.”
Kaufman said that is why healthcare providers are so supportive of efforts being made this session to pass legislation to encourage employment growth in West Virginia. More workers means more employer-sponsored insurance, and more employer-sponsored insurance means more money to pay doctors.
“When the House talks about their ‘jobs everywhere’ opportunity, that’s absolutely critical. The more people we bring in—getting them working, getting them with employer-sponsored coverage—that’s a great thing. That changes our payer mix,” Kaufman said.
While trends show that individuals on employer-sponsored coverage often require less intensive medical care than those on government-funded care, Kaufman said simply getting people in the door whose insurance will pay at a higher rate is an important step.
“It’s radically different than a Medicare patient or a Medicaid patient that tends to utilize healthcare services more because they’re sicker, older, comorbid conditions. However, by having that commercial mix—supporting primary care services, supporting outpatient care—that provides resources into the delivery system so you can support other things,” he said.