State law now allows rural hospitals to be assessed a fee in order to receive additional Medicaid reimbursement from the federal government. As a result, the Evangeline Parish Police Jury voiced its intention to pass such an ordinance after proper notice is given.
Attorney for Allegiance Health Management, who owns Mercy Regional Medical Center in Ville Platte and Acadian Medical Center in Eunice, Greg Frost said the parish is now one of the first four in the state to propose this assessment. The other parishes are Webster, Lincoln, and St. Landry.
According to Frost, the hospitals in Evangeline and St. Landry Parishes were not eligible under the preexisting law to receive the same Medicaid reimbursement that is allotted to other rural hospitals in the state. A recently passed state law now allows these parishes to impose a tax on their hospitals and have the state match those funds. The total funds will then be used to draw down the federal reimbursement.
Under federal law, the assessment cannot be levied on just one hospital in a parish and governmental hospitals, such as Savoy Medical Center, are exempt. This means Evangeline Parish will pass a mirror ordinance with St. Landry Parish that will set the same rate that cannot be more than 6%.
Frost explained this assessment is prohibited by state law to be pushed down to the patients. The tax is strictly on the hospitals’ gross revenue. He said, “It’s a working relationship with the hospital to improve the hospital’s ability to care for the patients.”
Allegiance Health Management Vice President Scott Crowley told the police jury’s executive committee, “the law allows us to compete more on an even playing field.”
He went on to say the assessment will allow Mercy Regional to offer better salaries for nurses and staff, to recruit physicians, to buy more equipment, and to better compete with hospitals in Lafayette and Opelousas.
Regional Chief Financial Officer for Allegiance Mike Fontenot explained whatever money is generated from this assessment will stay here at Mercy Regional. It will also allow local physicians who are not seeing Medicaid patients to start doing so.
“If the reimbursement goes up,” Fontenot said,
“the physicians will open up their doors to the Medicaid patients and keep them closer to home. We will have the ability to take care of them here in Ville Platte.”
Committee member Bryan Vidrine told fellow member Lamar Johnson the move is similar to a move made with Pine Prairie Energy.
Executive Committee Chairman Ryan “LeDay” Williams echoed Fontenot’s sentiments and added the increased reimbursement will allow the hospital to be able to attract patients from other areas outside Ville Platte. As he said, all of this is designed “to keep our hospital going because without a hospital in our area we have nothing.”
For coverage of other business during the police jury meeting held Monday, November 2, pick up a copy of Sunday’s edition of the Ville Platte Gazette.
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Tony Marks
Editor