By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
HOULTON, Maine — Nearly $400,000 in unpaid Medicaid reimbursements dating back as far as 2004 is what Houlton Regional Hospital hopes to recoup from the federal stimulus money according to Tom Moakler, the hospital’s CEO.
The hospital, says Moakler, uses a line of credit to ease cash flow demands when Medicare payments are delayed. But, that delay stretches over at least three years from 2004 to 2006. Any unpaid reimbursements from 2006 forward, he says, are “unsettled.”
Moakler says those delays in Medicare payments affect the hospital’s ability to pay its bills to vendors which is why HRH uses short-term loans. He says the state owes all hospitals about $330 million. According to Moakler, the back reimbursements for HRH are: $125,000 for 2004, $255,000 for 2005 and $19,000 for 2006.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe played key roles in hammering out an agreement on the $787 billion stimulus package which could mean a total boost to Maine’s economy of more than $1 billion. An estimated share of stimulus money for Maine’s Medicare programs, known as MaineCare, range from $300 to $400 million or more. And Gov. John Baldacci has promised transparency and accountability with oversight in administering that money.
In a statement to the Pioneer Times, Snowe said: “Maine is estimated to receive $420 million in additional federal Medicaid assistance, which will go a long way in helping our state to better meet these essential health care needs during challenging economic times.”
Snowe’s representative says the senator insisted on language in the bill to ensure that states direct funds to existing Medicaid programs and health care providers —hospitals, doctors, nursing homes — promptly, in order to avoid layoffs or denial of care.
Lori Donley, chief operations officer for Katahdin Valley Health Care in Patten, says she expects the stimulus package will only have a “neutral effect” on that organization’s work. And, Brenda Brown, administrator of Madigan Estates, after conferring with the association president, says at this time, they “just don’t know what the effect will be.”
But for HRH, a $42 million operation with 450 employees, Moakler says the benefit of the stimulus money is that the government will reimburse the hospital for services already rendered. “It is not to protect solvency but the hospital’s ability to pay vendors and provide financial stability.”
