Action required: 54 hospitals will close in Tenness without Medicaid expansion

Larry Drain, Legislative Liaision for DBSA Tennessee, provides us the results of his research into the need to expand TennCare. Thank you, Larry

54 Hospitals will close in Tennessee without Medicaid (TennCare) expansion by hopeworkscommunity The following is from the Tennessee Justice Center: Medicaid Reform is a Lifeline for Tennessee's Hospitals The Supreme Court ruled in June that the new health reform law permits, rather than requires, states to reform their Medicaid programs to cover people with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line. Now, Tennessee must choose whether to expand Medicaid. If Tennessee does not expand Medicaid, it could cause many hospitals to close. That's because some hospitals now receive disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments for providing care to people without insurance. When the health law was passed, hospitals agreed to accept cuts in DSH, as well as other Medicare and Medicaid payment reductions. In a world where almost everybody had insurance, as envisioned by the law, hospitals could afford to take those cuts. Without the expansion, hospitals will still be stuck providing care to lots of uninsured patients, but they will have to do it on tighter budgets. Many hospitals, especially in rural areas, will not be able to survive if Tennessee does not expand its Medicaid program. There are 121 general medical and surgical hospitals in Tennessee. Of these, 54 are at risk of closing because they have, on average, lost money over the past three years or have only had positive revenues due to DSH payments. These at-risk hospitals directly employ over 21,000 Tennesseans, and indirectly sustain tens of thousands more jobs. If these hospitals close because the State does not expand its Medicaid program, it would leave 30 Tennessee counties without a hospital and would have a devastating effect on Tennessee's economy.1 Below is a list of the hospitals at risk of closing if Tennessee does not expand its Medicaid program. County Hospital Employees Anderson* Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge 925 Bedford* Heritage Medical Center 234 Bledsoe* Erlanger Bledsoe 71 Bradley* Skyridge Medical Center 766 Bradley* Skyridge Medical Center - West 71 Campbell Jellico Community Hospital 225 Carroll* Baptist Memorial - Huntingdon 157 Carroll* McKenzie Regional Hospital 121 Cheatham Centennial Medical Center at Ashland City 48 Claiborne* Claiborne County Hospital 329 Clay* Cumberland River Hospital 213 Cocke* Baptist Hospital 203 Cumberland* Cumberland Medical Center 892 Davidson Metro Nashville General Hospital 649 Davidson Skyline Medical Center Madison Campus 203 Davidson Southern Hills Medical Center 352 Dickson* Horizon Medical Center 413 Fayette* Methodist Healthcare - Fayette 74 Fentress* Jamestown Regional 145 Gibson Gibson General Hospital 69 Gibson Humboldt General 81 Giles* Hillside Hospital 219 Greene* Laughlin Memorial Hospital 590 *Counties that would be left without a hospital if the identified hospital(s) close. 1 Annual financial and employment data on Tennessee hospitals is derived from the Tennessee Joint Annual Reports on Hospitals, available at http://health.state.tn.us/PublicJARS/Default.aspx . Greene* Takoma Regional 427 Hamblen* Lakeway Regional Hospital 239 Hamblen* Morristown Hamblen Healthcare 647 Hamilton Erlanger East 180 Hamilton Erlanger Medical Center 3280 Hamilton Erlanger North 73 Hancock* Wellmont Hancock County 37 Haywood* Haywood Park Community Hospital 92 Henderson* Henderson County Community Hospital 103 Henry* Henry County Medical Center 515 Hickman* Hickman Community Hospital 110 Humphreys* Three Rivers Hospital 75 Johnson* Johnson County Community Hospital 61 Knox Mercy Medical Center West 345 Loudon* Ft. Loudon Medical Center 194 Macon* Macon County General Hospital 119 Marion* Grandview Medical Center 237 Marshall* Marshall Medical Center 127 McMinn Woods Memorial 289 Roane* Roane Medical Center 298 Sevier* LeConte Medical Center 432 Shelby Baptist Memorial - Collierville 323 Shelby Delta Medical Center 448 Shelby Methodist Hospital - North 1065 Shelby Methodist Hospital - South 728 Shelby Methodist University Healthcare 2332 Smith* Riverview Regional –North 144 Smith* Riverview Regional –South 25 Sumner Sumner Regional Medical Center 711 Unicoi* Unicoi County Memorial Hospital 166 Washington Franklin Woods Community Hospital 388