Following a tour Tuesday afternoon of the newly-built Orleans Community Health Center in Albion, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer launched a campaign to extend a Medicare payment program across Upstate New York. The Low Volume Hospital Program would impact 24 hospitals across New York State.
This cut would particularly affect residents and patients across the Genesee, Livingston, Ontario and Wyoming (GLOW) region as the hospitals in Orleans, Wyoming, and Livingston counties would lose an estimated combined $1.7 million annually. Specifically, if the Medicare funding cut stands, next year Noyes Memorial Hospital will lose an estimated $628,500. This funding stream lapsed and expired on Sept. 30, and Schumer has introduced bipartisan legislation with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which would extend these programs for an additional year and make payments retroactive to Sept. 30 to ensure hospitals are made whole and can continue to provide top-rate care to the GLOW region, all while maintaining employment.
"Rural hospitals like Orleans Community Health, Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital and Wyoming County Community Hospital are the lifeblood of rural economies throughout Upstate New York, and they deserve our support. Efficiently investing in our rural hospitals and their patients allows medical facilities in Western New York to continue providing high quality health services, and is pivotal for our community and our economy," said Schumer. "The continued existence of the Low Volume Hospital Program is critical to the financial stability of hospitals in Western New York, and will help enhance quality of life in our rural communities. We cannot let this program end and risk the loss of quality care and health care jobs, and I will fight tooth and nail to make New York’s rural hospitals whole through the restoration of this funding."
"The rapid pace of change in healthcare is placing significant stress on rural facilities," said Amy E. Pollard, President and CEO of Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital. "Declining volumes due to high deductible plans and increased emphasis from Medicare and insurers on keeping patients out of the hospitals through changing admission criteria has placed a tremendous financial burden on rural hospitals in particular. Loss of the Medicare Low Volume Adjustment places the financial viability of these important facilities at risk. Without the Medicare Low Volume adjustment, Noyes risks losing qualified staff due to inability to keep up with the wage market; inability to purchase updated technology for patient care and potentially cutting patient services. The current Medicare Low Volume adjustment is equal to 15 – 18 full time positions depending on the salary level."
Following a tour Tuesday afternoon of the newly-built Orleans Community Health Center in Albion, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer launched a campaign to extend a Medicare payment program across Upstate New York. The Low Volume Hospital Program would impact 24 hospitals across New York State.
This cut would particularly affect residents and patients across the Genesee, Livingston, Ontario and Wyoming (GLOW) region as the hospitals in Orleans, Wyoming, and Livingston counties would lose an estimated combined $1.7 million annually. Specifically, if the Medicare funding cut stands, next year Noyes Memorial Hospital will lose an estimated $628,500. This funding stream lapsed and expired on Sept. 30, and Schumer has introduced bipartisan legislation with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which would extend these programs for an additional year and make payments retroactive to Sept. 30 to ensure hospitals are made whole and can continue to provide top-rate care to the GLOW region, all while maintaining employment.
"Rural hospitals like Orleans Community Health, Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital and Wyoming County Community Hospital are the lifeblood of rural economies throughout Upstate New York, and they deserve our support. Efficiently investing in our rural hospitals and their patients allows medical facilities in Western New York to continue providing high quality health services, and is pivotal for our community and our economy," said Schumer. "The continued existence of the Low Volume Hospital Program is critical to the financial stability of hospitals in Western New York, and will help enhance quality of life in our rural communities. We cannot let this program end and risk the loss of quality care and health care jobs, and I will fight tooth and nail to make New York’s rural hospitals whole through the restoration of this funding."
"The rapid pace of change in healthcare is placing significant stress on rural facilities," said Amy E. Pollard, President and CEO of Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital. "Declining volumes due to high deductible plans and increased emphasis from Medicare and insurers on keeping patients out of the hospitals through changing admission criteria has placed a tremendous financial burden on rural hospitals in particular. Loss of the Medicare Low Volume Adjustment places the financial viability of these important facilities at risk. Without the Medicare Low Volume adjustment, Noyes risks losing qualified staff due to inability to keep up with the wage market; inability to purchase updated technology for patient care and potentially cutting patient services. The current Medicare Low Volume adjustment is equal to 15 – 18 full time positions depending on the salary level."
Low volume hospitals are those that are critical to the community, but may not serve a high volume of patients. Since 1988, the Medicare program has recognized that these hospitals need additional support so that they can continue to provide high quality care to rural communities. A low-volume hospital is defined as one that is more than 15 road miles from another comparable hospital and has less than 1,600 Medicare discharges a year.
Medicare seeks to pay efficient providers their costs of furnishing services. However, certain factors beyond providers’ control can affect the costs of furnishing services. Patient volume is one such factor and is particularly relevant in small and isolated communities where providers frequently cannot achieve the economies of scale possible for their larger counterparts.
