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Four RI hospitals to get $7.1 million Medicare increase

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Posted: 8/6/2012 4:17:57 PM
Updated: 8/6/2012 4:19:44 PM

The four hospitals serving southern Rhode Island get an addtitional $7.1 million boost in Medicare payments. 

Leaders of the Kent, Newport, South County and Westerly hospitals gathered Monday at Kent Hospital in Warwick to applaud a $7.1 million boost in Medicare payments, resulting from new regulations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

A spokeswoman for the Hospital Association of Rhode Island said that the new money is in addition to some $117 million in Medicare payments already budget in the 2013 federal fiscal year, bringing the payments to about $124 million in FY 2014.

"It's going to make a huge difference to all of our hospitals," said Eve Keenan, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees at South County Hospital, which will receive an additiional $1.31 million.

"This $1.2 million we're getting is not in our budget, so its huge for us," said Mark Russo, the court-appointed Special Master of Westerly Hospital, which is currently in bankruptcy proceedings.

Kent Hospital will receive an estimated additional $3.26 million Medicare reimbursement in FY 2013, while Newport hospital stands to gain an additional $1.32 million.

"The irony, of course, as we all know," said U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), "is we have literally nurses that may live three miles from here that go to Boston, and they get reimbursed more, and we have nurses from Attleborough that come here and get reimbursed less for their same services. It makes no sense."

Reed said this is a one year boost in the reimbursement rates, but he said it would be very unusual for the federal government to cut back on or reduce the higher rate once it has been established.

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