The chief executive officer of Texas County Memorial Hospital was among four area healthcare leaders who met last week to discuss the current state of healthcare for working Missourians and possible solutions to the funding crisis are available.
Wes Murray of TCMH joined two other CEOs –– Thomas Keller of Ozarks Medical Center and Robert Rogers of Mercy St. Francis Hospital –– as well as Jo Blackburn, the clinic administrator at West Plains Christian Clinic, for the discussions. Each stressed the issue of uncompensated care is a significant drain on hospital resources. Additionally, all four noted that a significant portion of the individuals who are seeking care in the emergency room are people who have jobs but just do not make enough money to afford health insurance or make too much to qualify for Medicaid.
It was this subset of the population that the bulk of the conversation focused on and the population that Sen. Ryan Silvey is attempting to address with SB 419, which provides for block grant funding of both expanded Medicaid and a private option to give working people the opportunity to purchase affordable health insurance.
“The people in this very rural part of the state are very independent,” Keller said. “They have jobs, they aren’t looking for a hand out. That is not what covering more people with Medicaid reform would be. We need a solution that fits Missouri.”
Murray said uncompensated care has dropped the hospital’s payroll from 400 employees a few years ago to around 350.
“To lose even that many jobs is a big problem for us,” he said. “We are the only hospital within an hours drive for a lot of people. We just don’t understand how our elected officials are just sitting there and doing nothing about this. They can do better.”
Discussions centered around Silvey’s bill, which leaders believe would:
•Provide covered benefits, which would be comparable to non-Medicaid insurance coverage and will include health savings account options.
•Expanded coverage through private option insurance plans as delivered through health homes, managed care or provider-directed care coordination.
•Make Medicaid eligibility requirements, including work participation requirements and a ban on out-of-state enrollees receiving MO HealthNet benefits.
•Establish personal responsibility standards, including maximized cost-sharing obligations and incentives for healthy behavior.
All participants are asking the public to contact their legislator to demand they stand for Medicaid reform, which they say reduces waste fraud and abuse, focuses on Missouri solutions, promotes personal responsibility and ensures the quality of care.