Dayton-area hospitals see drop in privately insured patients

Hospital executives in the Dayton area are saying that rising unemployment and a worsening economy over the past year have led to a drop in the percentage of patients who are privately insured (Source: “Hospitals' plight gets more acute,” Dayton Daily News, Dec. 7, 2008).

Premium Health Partners, which operate Miami Valley and Good Samaratan hospitals in Dayton and Atrium Medical center in Warran County, has seen a 1.2 percent drop in privately insured patients in the past 12 months. Officials with the health network estimate that a 1 percent drop equals a lost about $10 million in revenue. That’s because hospital officials say for every dollar private insurers pay, Medicaid pays 30 cents. The number of Medicaid beneficiaries in Montgomery County has risen by 6 percent in just the first 11 months of 2008, compared to all of 2007.

Faced with a changing payer mix, hospitals are being forced to find new revenue streams and make serious budget cuts (Source: “Change in 'payer mix' forces hospitals to cut costs, points to need for reform,” Dayton Daily News, Dec. 7, 2008).

Local hospital officials say the economic environment is particularly difficult because Dayton is the only metropolitan area in Ohio that does not have a public or university-affiliated hospital that can assist in treating low-income patients.