By Richard Tedesco
But the impact varies by hospital and health care officials are still concerned about proposed federal Medicare and Medicaid cuts on institutions.
On the face of it, a partial restoration of an inflation adjustment for reimbursement and elimination of a .35 percent tax assessment on hospitals' gross receipts will result in a loss of $172 million in revene, instead of the $329 million originally proposed in Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget.
Approximately 33 percent of the proposed cuts to nursing home reimbursements were enacted in the final state budget, translating to a $75 million revenue loss for thos institutions in the coming year.
Reduced reimbursement rates for pharmacies will theoretically reduce consumer prescription bills by $197 million. Spitzer's budget also aims to recoup $430 million in Medicaid fraud - a projected increase of $130 million over last year.
The governor is moving toward "developing a more rational reimbusement system" said Jeffrey Gordon, spokesman for Spitzer's budget office.
Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) who led the fight to restore the state health care cuts, said, "We fought to adopt real reforms to restrain Medicaid, while protecting the quality and accessibility of health care on Long Island."
But Long Island adminstrators aren't yet certain of the impact on their respective institutions.
"It's better than nothing," said Dr. Alan Guerci, president and CEO of St. Francis Hospital and Mercy Medical Center, "but I don't know what the impact will be on St. Francis or Mercy."
Dr. Guerci estimates the enacted budget restored approximately one-third of the cuts affecting the hospitals he oversees, and he anticipates there may be further adjustments in the state budget.
Kevin Dahill, CEO of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, said, "In general, we're guardedly pleased with the outcome, considering what we were threatened with."
But Dahill pointed out that the state budget amendments still leave some health institutions in tenuous straits. And he expressed concern that the proposed $531 million in federal budget cuts for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to Long Island hospitals would have a dire impact on health care services here.
"If the federal budget is enacted according to the president's recommendations, that would definitely cause hospitals to close," he said, declining to point to specific institutions.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) has been spearheading a Congressional initiative to overturn those proposed health care cuts.
