Group Warns of WA Hospitals Finances

(Seattle, WA) -- The Washington State Hospital Association says it's untenable. That is the financial condition of hospitals combined as a whole here in the state. In a media briefing held earlier this week, the organization released a report showing total operating expenses increased by 9% in a period year over year, while at the same time revenue increased by only 5%. That means hospitals are losing money by a wide margin. WSHA CEO Cassie Sauer now calls 2022  worse than the year before, and that she says is "quite alarming."

Sauer says you're beginning to see an impact with “patients who are not getting knees replacements, heart valve replacements, colostomy reversals, slow cancer tumor removals. Those are huge impacts on patients’ health, both physical and mental.” She adds you may begin to see hospital begin to close in Washington State.

The Association says the want state lawmakers to reimburse Medicaid at the same rate they payback Medicare, which is to say about 80-percent.