Maryland hospitals post 71% profit decline, operating at record low margins

Baltimore Business Journal ^ | Sept. 19, 2013 | Sarah Gantz

[11th_VA]

Hospitals in Maryland are operating with record low margins, according to a new report by the state Health Services Cost Review Commission.

Operating profits at Maryland hospitals dropped 71 percent in fiscal 2013, which ended June 30. The 46 hospitals reported a total operating profit of $99.8 million, down from $344.2 million a year before. The total profit margin among the hospitals was 3.39 percent.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen margins this low, ever,” said Steve Ports, deputy director of policy and operations for the HSCRC, which sets hospital rates.

SNIP

Alright, so hospitals aren’t making money like they used to. Should we be concerned? After all, a nearly $100 million profit isn’t too shabby.

Ports’ simple answer is yes.

“Hospitals need enough revenue to operate,” he said.

That includes improving facilities, updating equipment and paying the thousands of Maryland residents who work for them.

[centurion316]

Obamacare will expand that sort of system to the entire health care system nationwide. It should be a great success.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The Left has long openly called for health care, education and child care to become “No Profit Zones”.

They are finally getting their wish it seems.

[pallis]

It must be time to raise the cost of hospital aspirins up to $20 apiece. That will take care of the problem.

[dangerdoc]

Operating profit does not occur in a vacuum. Some industries are stable and can thrive with razor thin margins, some are more volatile and require a wider margin to respond to their environment.

I don’t have enough information to know what their margins are but medicine operates in a very volatile environment. A hundred million dollars can disappear in a blink of the eye.

[Palio di Siena]

Whatever.
Obamacare has nothing to do with hospital rate setting in Maryland.
Obamacare will be an unmitigated disaster.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

You’ve completely misunderstood my post.

[Gay State Conservative]

It's all part of the plan.Drive insurance companies,HMO’s and hospitals to their knees and then...government health care:delivered with the efficiency of the Post Office and the compassion of the IRS.

[centurion316]

The Maryland Hospital Rate Commission may well be doing a good job. I take your word that this is so. It’s a little surprising for that state, but certainly possible if it is staffed by honest and competent people operating within their charter.

But, the history of price controls is not a good one. While there are examples of short term successes, they are almost always a disaster over the long term. The liberals do love this approach and are quick to cite the examples of success as justification to applying price controls to more and more of the economy. With Obamacare, all of the health care system will fall under federal government oversight and manipulation and that will include the Maryland Hospital Rate Commission, so Obamacare will have something to do with it in the near future.

[Palio di Siena]

What will kill health care in this country is “population health management. “
Even the name is scary. Get used to it, it’s coming soon to a place near you.
I’m in my sixties, I’ve watched this slow motion train wreck that we call health care happening since the onset of Medicare and Medicaid.
I see hospital rates increasing by 1 or 2 % per year, doctors getting no fee increases, but health insurance premiums climb at double digit rates.
The docs and the hospitals aren’t the cause of this crisis.

[centurion316]

I see hospital rates increasing by 1 or 2 % per year, doctors getting no fee increases, but health insurance premiums climb at double digit rates. The docs and the hospitals aren’t the cause of this crisis.

You are certainly right about that. I do not understand how docs remain in private practice or how hospitals remain independent. But, of course, the trend is that they don't and won't.

[jimt]

I recently went to the hospital and it was filled with illegals in the emergency room ... no wonder they can’t make a profit ...

Bingo, we have a winner !

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I guess, if the hospitals threaten to close due to falling revenues, the Maryland socialist DemocRAT government will force them to operate with reduced rates, a la Hugo Chavez.

Maryland “Freak State” PING!

[ConorMacNessa]

"What difference, at this time, does it make?"

With Obamacare going into effect, we'll all be looking at surgery with dirty instruments and hospitals that are nothing more than abattoirs. Kermit Gosnell will probably get his license back.

America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)