Lars Larson: 3 things driving hospitals into bankruptcy

By Lars Larson
NW and national radio host,

Hospitals in Oregon claim they’re on the brink of financial collapse.

The fact is hospitals PUT themselves in that position.

Start with the two biggest barrels of red ink.

Employee costs and who pays the bill.

Becker’s Hospital Review, shows Oregon hands out the biggest paychecks in America nurses. Hospitals negotiate those salaries. When you agree to pay more for something than you can afford, you know where that ends up.

Lawmakers mandated nurse/patient ratios and that jacked up salaries too.

Who pays the bill? Medicaid covers more than a quarter of all Oregonians.

Around the country Medicaid reimbursement averages 85 percent.

In Oregon, it’s only 54 percent.

So hospitals provide a hundred dollars of care for which they get 54 bucks.

Imagine how fast you go broke that way.

Illegal aliens are a big part of the problem.

Federal law bans medicaid for illegals except for emergencies.

Two years ago, Oregon lawmakers extended medicaid to border hoppers and hospitals backed that up. That cost taxpayers almost half a billion dollars.

Now the hospitals sing the blues about the predicament THEY created.

Excuse me if I’m not terribly sympathetic.

That’s the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for First Amendment Friday. I’m Lars Larson