Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Healthcare Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Jackson County medical care facility reports 5-star rating but faces budget shortfall and Medicaid timing issues
Summary
Facility director reported high quality ratings and improving staffing metrics but year-to-date operations were behind budget; commissioners were asked to advocate for an MOE freeze in the legislature.
Destiny, director of the Jackson County Medical Care Facility, told county commissioners the facility retains a five-star rating overall and has improved turnover metrics: a 24.3% overall nursing turnover rate and a 7.7% RN turnover rate, the lowest in the facility’s 25-mile market area.
She said the facility went seven months without mandating nurses to work extra shifts, has been added to a hospital preferred-provider network and reported growing census in July and August with only two beds empty at the time of the meeting.
But financials through June showed operating challenges. The director reported April revenue was $111,581 behind budget with expenses $5,062 over budget (net change negative $116,643). May revenue was $125,529 behind budget (net negative $126,986). June revenue was $44,599 behind budget while expenses were $148,407 over budget, a variance she attributed mainly to higher-than-expected health-insurance claims under a self-funded plan; the month’s net position change was negative $193,006.
Year to date, revenue was $362,429 behind budget and expenses $114,408 over budget, yielding a year-to-date operating change in net position of negative $476,837; census was behind budget by 1.39 on average and year-to-date admissions totaled 317 with 300 discharges.
The director described prior Medicaid adjustments and incoming certified public expenditure (CPE) payments: a remittance advice reduced prior payments by $243,515.52 and a July reduction of $716,485.48, leaving an outstanding Medicaid repayment of about $2,630,000. The facility expected a CPE payment of $1,400,000, which the state planned to offset by $1,000,316.85 to cover an overpayment, improving short-term cash timing.
She said a new Medicaid rate beginning Oct. 1 is estimated to add $42–$43 per resident per day, roughly $2 million annually, which should help offset the deficit. The facility projected a county-proposed usage of maintenance-of-effort (MOE) funds of $168,000 for bond interest and intends to bring a resolution next month.
The director asked commissioners to support legislation to freeze the county MOE obligation (identified in the meeting as House Bill 4726) because without a freeze the county MOE could increase from $15 to $55 per Medicaid resident per day. Commissioners did not take formal action beyond receiving the report.
A motion to receive the facility report passed by voice vote.
