Memorial Hospital Cites Obamacare on Hospital Layoffs
South Bend, IN (By Kevin Lewis, WNDU.com) - With St. Joseph County's unemployment rate still sitting above 10 percent, things could be getting worse thanks to cuts at Memorial Hospital. Those cuts began back in June and hospital leaders say there's no end in sight.
While hospital leaders admit the economy sparked this problem, it says the Obama Health Care Reform Act gave the hospital a one-two punch. While more people may soon get more health coverage, Obama's plan cuts reimbursement dollars for hospitals at a time administrators say they could use them most.
If you roll up a chair and type your way to Memorial Hospital's web site, you can click your way through 45 active job openings. Pay the hospital a visit and you'll see it's still getting patients and paying for construction improvements. So why would it cut nearly fifty jobs in just five months?
"No more discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions. No more retroactively dropping someone's policy when they get sick, those days are over," President Obama said at a June press conference.
Hospital leaders say the days of high-priced insurance may be over, but add that the days of cuts are here. In a statement the hospital said:
"Health care reform in its current state has already started to cut reimbursement rates to hospitals across the region and the country and we expect that reality to get worse moving forward."
It's a catch 22; increased health insurance at the cost of hospital staffing.
While hospital leaders admit the economy sparked this problem, it says the Obama Health Care Reform Act gave the hospital a one-two punch. While more people may soon get more health coverage, Obama's plan cuts reimbursement dollars for hospitals at a time administrators say they could use them most.
If you roll up a chair and type your way to Memorial Hospital's web site, you can click your way through 45 active job openings. Pay the hospital a visit and you'll see it's still getting patients and paying for construction improvements. So why would it cut nearly fifty jobs in just five months?
"No more discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions. No more retroactively dropping someone's policy when they get sick, those days are over," President Obama said at a June press conference.
Hospital leaders say the days of high-priced insurance may be over, but add that the days of cuts are here. In a statement the hospital said:
"Health care reform in its current state has already started to cut reimbursement rates to hospitals across the region and the country and we expect that reality to get worse moving forward."
It's a catch 22; increased health insurance at the cost of hospital staffing.
posted by BP News Bureau | 12:18 PM
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