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Show Utah Hospitals Absorb Costs According to a study i just completed by the Utah Hospital Association, community hospitals in the Beehive State will provide $63 million worth of uncompensated un-compensated services this year. The study was i initiated because of allegations by the State . Health Department and others, that Utah hospitals were unwilling to absorb their fair share of Medicaid budget shortages coming from a failure by the Department to tighten its belt. The Hospital Association has contended that the Medicaid program should live within its budget by restricting eligibility and eliminating programs labeled as "optional". Medicaid hospitalization hospitalizati-on is a mandated program which the State is obligated to support in order to receive matching federal funds. "We continue to hear reports from the Health Department that Utah Hospital Costs have gone up 17 percent," 7 said Rick Kinnersley, ' Utah Hospital Association President. "A simple review of the facts shows that hospital rates in Utah actually rose only 11 percent last year, as compared to the Conr. sumer Price Index; (CPI) of 13 percent. ; According to financial experts within the hospital industry there are two reasons for the difference between the Health Department's allegations and the actual documented rate of increase. First is the increase in the number of patients hospital serve. As the State's population increased over last year, so did the number of patients in hospitals. Costs go up in order for hospitals to serve those new patients. The second reason is "intensity" of service. Each year with expanding technology physicians and patients demand more service, i.e. more tests, more x-rays, etc. |