People down South and from the mid-West really have no concept of how bad this economical situation is where I live. They think I live in a mansion because we pay over $1100 a month rent because they have an entire house with an acre of land, 4 bedrooms and two full baths rented for half that amount. When I say I pay over $2 for a stinking head of lettuce they accuse me of buying organic from, well, who knows where.When I mentioned a few years ago that our local hospital was laying off nurses I was told I must be making that up or mis-read something, that there's a nursing shortage. And when I mentioned that local hospitals have not only been closing specialty units (We lost maternity and pediatrics, as well as psyche and almost all out-patient services, like physio-therapy and well-child clinics) but actually going bankrupt, I was laughed it. It's not until I send them articles like these that they believed me.
Economy is sickening U.S. hospitals
Data shows decline in admissions and increase in patients who can’t pay
The Associated Press
updated 5:14 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 19, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. - The dismal economy has American hospitals ailing, with new data showing declines in overall admissions and elective procedures, plus a significant jump in patients who can't pay for care, the American Hospital Association said Wednesday.
Hospitals also have been hurt by losses on their investments due to the turmoil on Wall Street, and many are finding it more expensive to borrow money — if they can at all, according to a report from the association, which represents about 5,000 U.S. hospitals.
"The worst part is the combination of all of the above," said Rich Umbdenstock, the association's president and chief executive.
Some of the hardest-hit hospitals began reducing staffing and services as early as last spring and more will follow, although hospitals are trying to limit the impact on patients, said Umbdenstock. He said hospitals are more likely to eliminate entire services — money-losers or ones with high operating costs — than to make across-the-board cuts that weaken all services.
"There have been hospital closures (this year), particularly in some of the more heavily impacted areas," such as New Jersey, where hospitals are providing more and more unreimbursed care, he said.
The downturn is hitting hospitals worse than other industries, he said, and many already were struggling due to pressures including government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid not paying the full cost of treatment. Hospitals are worried the Obama administration's health care reforms will affect reimbursement rates for those two huge programs, which cover 55 percent of all hospital patients.
A hospital association survey about conditions over the past three months drew responses from 736 hospitals, and the association report also uses figures from the July-September period collected from 557 hospitals that send quarterly reports to a central system run by the Colorado Hospital Association.
The Databank hospitals' investment results amounted to a combined loss of $832 million, compared with a $396 million gain a year earlier — a big problem because normally investment gains help make up for some of the costs not covered by patients and insurers.
Meanwhile, the interest those hospitals paid on borrowed funds jumped by 15 percent in the third quarter, compared to 2007's third quarter, another difficult squeeze because hospitals generally borrow money for expansions and upgrades, multimillion-dollar technology and even sometimes to cover payroll and pay regular vendors.
Other key findings:
* 67 percent of hospitals saw some drop in elective procedures; 6 percent saw a significant drop.
* 63 percent saw some decline in overall admissions; 9 percent saw a bigger drop.
* Inpatient and outpatient surgeries and emergency department visits were all down roughly 1 percent in the third quarter.
* Half of hospitals have seen a moderate or significant jump in uncompensated care, with a jump averaging 8 percent. The association cites unemployed people losing their health insurance.
* Total profit margin at the Database hospitals dropped from an average 6.1 percent in 2007's third quarter to an average loss of 1.6 percent in 2008's third quarter.
* 56 percent of hospitals are reconsidering or postponing renovations or expansions, and about 40 percent are delaying improvements to information technology or other equipment.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27809791/
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2008 MSNBC.com
Data shows decline in admissions and increase in patients who can’t pay
The Associated Press
updated 5:14 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 19, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. - The dismal economy has American hospitals ailing, with new data showing declines in overall admissions and elective procedures, plus a significant jump in patients who can't pay for care, the American Hospital Association said Wednesday.
Hospitals also have been hurt by losses on their investments due to the turmoil on Wall Street, and many are finding it more expensive to borrow money — if they can at all, according to a report from the association, which represents about 5,000 U.S. hospitals.
"The worst part is the combination of all of the above," said Rich Umbdenstock, the association's president and chief executive.
Some of the hardest-hit hospitals began reducing staffing and services as early as last spring and more will follow, although hospitals are trying to limit the impact on patients, said Umbdenstock. He said hospitals are more likely to eliminate entire services — money-losers or ones with high operating costs — than to make across-the-board cuts that weaken all services.
"There have been hospital closures (this year), particularly in some of the more heavily impacted areas," such as New Jersey, where hospitals are providing more and more unreimbursed care, he said.
The downturn is hitting hospitals worse than other industries, he said, and many already were struggling due to pressures including government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid not paying the full cost of treatment. Hospitals are worried the Obama administration's health care reforms will affect reimbursement rates for those two huge programs, which cover 55 percent of all hospital patients.
A hospital association survey about conditions over the past three months drew responses from 736 hospitals, and the association report also uses figures from the July-September period collected from 557 hospitals that send quarterly reports to a central system run by the Colorado Hospital Association.
The Databank hospitals' investment results amounted to a combined loss of $832 million, compared with a $396 million gain a year earlier — a big problem because normally investment gains help make up for some of the costs not covered by patients and insurers.
Meanwhile, the interest those hospitals paid on borrowed funds jumped by 15 percent in the third quarter, compared to 2007's third quarter, another difficult squeeze because hospitals generally borrow money for expansions and upgrades, multimillion-dollar technology and even sometimes to cover payroll and pay regular vendors.
Other key findings:
* 67 percent of hospitals saw some drop in elective procedures; 6 percent saw a significant drop.
* 63 percent saw some decline in overall admissions; 9 percent saw a bigger drop.
* Inpatient and outpatient surgeries and emergency department visits were all down roughly 1 percent in the third quarter.
* Half of hospitals have seen a moderate or significant jump in uncompensated care, with a jump averaging 8 percent. The association cites unemployed people losing their health insurance.
* Total profit margin at the Database hospitals dropped from an average 6.1 percent in 2007's third quarter to an average loss of 1.6 percent in 2008's third quarter.
* 56 percent of hospitals are reconsidering or postponing renovations or expansions, and about 40 percent are delaying improvements to information technology or other equipment.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27809791/
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2008 MSNBC.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And this one:
And this one:
Price dropoff misses N.Y.C.
BY WILLIAM SHERMAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 20th 2008, 1:20 AM
Plummeting energy costs triggered a big drop in consumer prices in the New York area last month - the biggest four-week decrease in 53 years.
The local figures - a 1% decrease for all items in the Consumer Price Index - are roughly in line with the statistics for the nation, according to Department of Labor statistics released Wednesday.
But the October fall is no reason for New Yorkers to celebrate. We're paying more for just about everything including clothing, food and rent, than we were a year ago.
Overall, the metro area CPI is up 4.3% for the year in categories that include a 6.7% spike in food and beverage costs, while apparel is up 4.5%, and rent has grown 5.5%, according to the New York Office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And one item, the increase in food prices here, including a 0.5% pop up last month, is a mystery to government economists.
"There's really no explanation for rising food prices," said Michael Dolfman, Regional Commissioner for the Bureau.
"When fuel prices go up, you expect merchants to pass those increases on to consumers and fuel is a big component of food costs because food has to be delivered," he added, "but now we have a drastic reduction in fuel costs and we haven't seen reductions in food and commodity costs."
An answer to the mystery was suggested by several retail merchants interviewed. Once prices go up for most goods and services, it's very rare to see them go down.
"Flour is down, but my bread suppliers haven't reduced their prices," said Saul Zabar, owner of Zabar's, the specialty food emporium on Manhattan's West Side.
"I know other commodities are down, eggs and milk but it's the same there. We have to go after the wholesalers and get them to pull their prices down," he said.
Still, there are bright notes for New York consumers that showed inflation is in check, according to the October statistics.
Energy costs fell 9.2% for the month, and medical care, a category that had been rising sharply for the past five years, fell 0.4%.
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