Dive Brief:
- For the first time in 180 years, Chicago-based Cook County Health & Hospitals System has turned a profit.
- At the same time, Grady Health System in Atlanta would still be unable to survive without donations and county funding.
- The difference in the hospitals' financial situations can likely be attributed to the fact that one is in a state that chose to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA); the other is not.
Dive Insight:
According to a new study, in states that accepted federal money to expand their Medicaid programs, safety net hospitals are beginning to see profits for the first time in years because more of their patients are now insured. In states that chose not to expand their Medicaid programs, hospital finances have remained about the same.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in non-expansion states, almost 4 million people are still uninsured who would have been eligible for Medicaid coverage if the states had expanded their programs. And experts are projecting that safety net hospitals in those states will begin to feel an even greater pinch over time.
"Providers in these states are going to be at a disadvantage," Jim LeBuhn, senior director at Fitch Ratings, told Reuters. "It’s going to make it that much more challenging for these providers to maintain their financial profiles."
