Tampa General facing $64 million loss

By: Mike Deeson

Tampa, Florida - Almost 70,000 times a year, someone comes into the TGH emergency room. Thousands of patients are seen at the TGH clinics.

Many who come in are on Medicaid, but under a new plan that cuts payments to hospitals, those patients could be in trouble. TGH spokesman John Dunn says people who have no insurance are facing a threat to their ability to receive health insurance.

Last year TGH operated in the black with $41 million on the positive side of the ledger. But with the proposed $64 million in cuts, the hospital would be $17 million in the red. That would be the biggest loss in TGH history.

And while the proposal is a code red emergency for the hospital, all the effort is geared toward stopping from going into effect, because TGH has no idea what it will do if it loses the $64 million.

Those pushing the cuts say Medicaid patients will be OK, because they will get a tax deduction on health care.

However Tampa Congressman Kathy Castor says most Medicaid patients don't pay taxes, so a tax deduction makes no sense. Castor is leading the fight against the cuts. Meantime some say those cuts will affect those who have insurance who will have to pay higher rates to subsidize the losses.

While Tampa General will lose General $63,983,117, other area hospitals are at risk as well.

All Children's will lose $30,983,271, Moffitt Cancer Center $4,119,424 and St. Joseph's $19,313,478. In all, Florida hospitals stand to lose $4 billion over the next five years.