What went

wrong? Well, Congress made a mistake, not intentionally,

but a significant mistake in its estimates. And, it is a

mistake that all Americans will have to bear, unless they

act now. Our community hospitals could be in jeopardy

and, thus, our access to care.

In 1988,

congress made a similar miscalculation, enacting the

Medicare Catastrophic Care Act. Before Congress later

repealed this law, provisions in this measure upset

seniors so much that an angry crowd once chased former

Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee Dan

Rostenkowski out of an event. One lady event went so far

as to hang onto the hood of the chairman's car as he

pulled out of the parking lot.

So, while

no one should run right over to his or her member of

congress' car and jump onto the hood, time is short and

the consequences of our inaction will be dire. In fact,

according to a recent study by Ernst & Young and

HCIA, unless adjustments to the BBA `97 are made soon,

more than 50 percent of all hospitals will be operating

"in the red." While hospitals are solely in the

business of meeting their patients' needs, how many

businesses could survive very long operating with a

negative cash flow? Very few. But more importantly, we

need to ask ourselves and our elected leaders, "Is

healthcare now so unimportant that we are willing to

threaten the financial viability of our communities's

hospitals?" In my opinion: absolutely not.

Maintaining a strong Medicare program is too important to

our senior citizens and to all Americans.

For

instance, there are millions of low-income seniors who do

not have Medigap coverage, nor do they qualify for

Medicaid, and they cannot afford Medicare's hospital

deductible. At present, when a senior citizen cannot pay,

the hospital assumes the cost as a "bad debt."

Before the BBA, the federal government reimbursed

hospitals for 100 percent of their costs of treating

these types of patients, but under the new policy,

hospitals are now only compensated for a little over 50

percent of these costs. Therefore, hospitals that treat a

high proportion of these poor seniors are particularly

hard hit, and are now simply absorbing the remainder as

an ever-growing loss, which has a ripple effect across a

hospital's operations-negatively impacting everyone.

Simply put-Congress must revisit the devastating

impact that the BBGA has had on our nations's healthcare

system.

America has

always placed a premium on providing quality care to its

people-young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural,

and our nation's hospitals have been at the forefront of

this effort. But healthcare in our communities could take

a dramatic turn for the worse unless we urge our elected

officials to repair some of the damage the BBA has caused

our hospitals.

James E.

Lathren

President and Chief Executive Officer

Atlanta Medical Center

Morrow HealthCare

Fayette Urgent Care

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