ROCKPORT, Maine — A sharp increase in people without insurance is expected to result in the area’s health care system ending the budget year with a deficit.
Through the first nine months of the current budget year — Oct. 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 — Pen Bay Healthcare said it has provided $3.25 million in free care. That is $837,000 more than the same period a year ago.
The increase is due to both fewer people being covered by the MaineCare program for low-income Mainers as well as fewer people receiving health care coverage through their work, according to Megan Williams, director of communications for Pen Bay Healthcare.
The largest component of Pen Bay Healthcare is Pen Bay Medical Center, the hospital located in Rockport. Other parts of Pen Bay Healthcare are the Quarry Hill retirement center in Camden, the Knox Center for Long Term Care in Rockland, and the Kno-Wal-Lin home health care and hospice.
Pen Bay Healthcare experienced an operating loss of more than $2.9 million through the first nine months of the fiscal year, according to Williams. There were some nonoperating revenues that helped offset some of the losses, but the overall net loss was more than $1 million through June 30. Pen Bay’s overall expenses for that period were about $111 million.
Free care is provided for people who earn up to 225 percent of the federal poverty level. That translates to $22,500 for a single person and $3,960 for every additional person in the family.
There are no plans to cut programs at this time, Williams said.
Pen Bay Healthcare President and Chief Executive Officer Wade Johnson said that by consolidating years ago, Pen Bay has been able to more effectively meet the needs of Knox County and people in the organization’s service area. He issued a written response to a question about how Pen Bay was faring financially as part of MaineHealth following the announcement earlier this month that St. Andrews Hospital and Healthcare Center in nearby Boothbay Harbor — which is also part of MaineHealth — would be closing its emergency room next year.
“Lincoln County Healthcare is having to make some very difficult decisions about where certain services should be provided to best meet the needs of their community,” Johnson stated. “In many cases, combining services into one location decreases the cost of care for the overall community and increases the level of service being provided at the new location. In health care, we are seeing smaller communities come together and pool their resources in order to build sustainable health care organizations for the future that will better meet the needs of everyone within their region.”
Johnson concluded: “At Pen Bay, we are very aware of the lack of health care funding at the state and federal level that is forcing many of these types of changes. We are actively engaged in reducing our costs and better understanding the needs of our community, so we can minimize service changes in the future.”
Pen Bay has seen a decline in the overall use of its facilities, according to statistics it released last week.
Williams said the economy is considered to be the major factor in the decrease in volumes that have been seen both statewide and nationally.
Emergency room visits at Pen Bay Medical Center are down 4 percent this year from a year ago, hospital admissions are down about 8 percent, surgeries down 10 percent, and hospice visits down 20 percent.
In the Boothbay Harbor region, there was criticism of the lack of community input before its local health care board made the decision to close the emergency department. Pen Bay Healthcare also responded to a question about community involvement in its planning.
“Now that the incorporators are formally disbanded, we have many other ways for people to learn about Pen Bay and participate with Pen Bay. One can participate as a committee member in a particular area of interest; finance, patient feedback, investments — to name a few,” Pen Bay said in a written response. “Community members can join our Pen Bay Partners in Care Council, which meets monthly. Community members can be invited to have lunch with our new CEO, Wade Johnson, who holds such luncheons on a monthly basis. We have physician speaking events, which the public is invited to — and we have many other education events throughout the year that the community is invited to. In addition, our current strategic planning process includes input from many community members from various backgrounds in Pen Bay’s service area.”
maybe if they did not charge so much ,maybe people could pay something.
It is the other way around. It costs more because so many pay nothing.
I wouldn’t let insurance companies off the hook here.
Is that why they charge $4,000.00 for a recovery room.
rob, are you serious with some of your daft posts? are you so ill-informed about the way things work or are you just trolling?
The salaries of the management keeps going up and performance goes down. The last CEO was paid $350,000. A VP makes $250,000, another is paid $200K and another VP makes $160K.
No be grudging hte docs their pay check but this group of management has not earned their salaries. This is welfare for *bad* performance at the expense of tax payors.
Source of salaries is Pen Bay’s IRS 990 tax forms filed for 2011. See guidestar.org
Insurance companies negotiate for lower payments to hospitals and doctors. I would hope people without insurance could do the same.
You give away free healthcare and wonder by your broke. How do they know the people who received the free healthcare should have been on Mainecare. Just because you have a lower income doesn’t mean you get Mainecare. Sounds to me as if they have a business model that’s not working anymore and needs adjustments.
Maybe the adjustment should be in the choice of Governors. When he changed the rules on Mainecare he shifted the burdon to the hospitals. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. Just another example of a hospital going under so the rich in this State can have their tax break. The next closest hospital is Waldo County in Belfast. A long ride when you need immediate care.
The burden is on the taxpayers either way — people either qualify for MaineCare or they use the hospital system without paying. In the end the taxpayer covers it either through MaineCare or by covering the expense the hospital has absorbed in freecare. The real issue is in access and use of the system — the ER is a costly option overburdened with colds, flus, and the like which do not require the expertise or cost of an ER visit.
I agree on the frivolous use of the ER. Some have no choice though. Doctors can refuse to see someone sick who is not an emergency and has no money to pay leaving no choice for those who have no insurance except the ER. Pen Bay has been referring many bof those to clinics if there is no emergency. Since the changes in the healthcare rules is Maine, there are many more left without insurance. Outside of Mainecare and Medicare, I personally know very few with health insurance.
It’s really State Law, not, a generous hospital. The clients simply do not have any property to go after, for the hospital will go after the payment, lien on property, etc, but they cannot refuse treatment.
Send the Lincoln County Health Care trustees up there, they’ll fix it fast by shutting it down. Knee jerk reactions can work, although not well.
Posters of comments here should read the related story,
Maine hospitals among 2,211 to be penalized by Medicare for readmissions
There is a particularly good post by a physician, Dr. Beverly Bley.
One also has to wonder how many of these healthcare organizations are not even being paid by the state. There was an article some time ago detailing the fact that the state owed hospitals back mainecare payments in the millions.
That’s akin to an insurance company simply not paying the claims submitted by the hospital.
Wouldn’t surprise me if PenBay, Lincoln etc. was owed millions by the state in back payments. Those millions could stem the tide and bleeding of free care.
Don’t blame the hospitals; blame LePage and his cronies and the congress of the U.S. A. This is only the beginning if we don’t get them out of office and dare to let R & R in.
If I recall correctly, it was Balcacci and Co. who refused to pay hospitals the money we owed them and LePage is the person we voted in to office to take care of these leftover problems from the previous administration.
Did you happen to read the article?
It might also have something to do with the fact that all the managers in the hospital now have Iphones that the hospital paid for. This way they can always be reached. Gee what did people do without the benefit of being able to be contacted or contact someone else 24 hours a day. We complain about how much it costs to get healthcare and these hospitals complain about not getting paid by the state and then they go and get iPhones for everyone? Is there something wrong with this picture or is it just me?
I really think the whole point of Pen Bay releasing this report is so that they can validate cutting positions in 3….2….1….
Somehow I bet it wont be a cut from the top.
I read the article about the impoverished Pen Bay Healthcare to see if I could learn what the Pen Bay Healthcare President and Chief Executive Officer got for a yearly salary.
Can you tell me?
The humble Farmer
Humble here you go… I posted this above. apologies to thers for the repeat.
The salaries of the management keeps going up and performance goes down. The last CEO was paid $350,000. A VP makes $250,000, another is paid $200K and another VP makes $160K. No be grudging hte docs their pay check but this group of management has not earned their salaries. This is welfare for *bad* performance at the expense of tax payors.Source of salaries is Pen Bay’s IRS 990 tax forms filed for 2011. See guidestar.orgThe new CEO’s salary is not available yet. But why don’t you just ask him? He does seem like a reasonable person – and he knows it will be public with the next tax filing. Importantly, WJ has a track record of success. He just needs to clean house – just in his managment suite of offices. Those non-performers are not worth their pay check. Let’s face it leadership starts at the top with all of them.