By Eleanor Boudreau
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-905365.mp3
Memphis, TN –
Funding for the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, or The MED, is increasingly a subject of political debate.
If you've been following the race for Shelby County Mayor you are familiar with the question--Is The MED saved? Interim Mayor Joe Ford trounced County Commissioner Deidre Malone in the Democratic primary saying it was. Ford is still saying that The MED is saved, but his Republican opponent, Sheriff Mark Luttrell, says it needs more looking into.
And recently the hospital made its way into state politics. In a forum here at WKNO, Otis Sanford of The Commercial Appeal asked the Republican candidates for governor:
"Would you do more to help The MED? How would you accomplish that given the state's financial troubles? And if you plan to seek more federal government help, how would that square with your position that the federal government should not be in health care?"
The MED gets money from both the state and the federal government; and the money it gets from the feds depends on how much the state ponies up. The federal government matches state funds two to one.
In February Governor Phil Bredesen took a scalpel to the TennCare program, effectively cutting state and federal funds to The MED, and the hospital said it would have to close its doors.
But other Tennessee hospitals transfused the Med with cash; they agreed to a "hospital coverage fee" that lasts for one year.
"Next year will have to take care of itself," said Cato Johnson, a Senior Vice President at Methodist, one of the hospitals paying the coverage fee. "The reason it was one year is because we still recognize the obligation to fund the TennCare program is the obligation of the state of Tennessee, it is not the obligation of hospitals."
In response to Sanford's question about The MED, each GOP candidate for governor pointed to a different plague they would work to correct. Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said The MED is wasting money.
"The MED is set up by its very nature to be incredibly inefficient," Haslam said.
The MED admits to inefficiencies, at least as far as some of its contracts with private insurers go, and says it is working to correct them.
Lt. Governor Ramsey pointed to The MED's position on the border of three states.
"The MED is the third largest Medicaid provider in Mississippi," Ramsey said.
Mississippi recently gave The MED more money.
Finally, Congressman Zach Wamp pointed to one more problem.
"They have to service you. Walk in, they have to service you," Wamp said.
About 30 percent of The MED's patients are uninsured. That's compared to only about 10 percent for other hospitals in the area such as Baptist and Methodist. Towns said, "No one really has responsibility to pay for the uninsured."
The number of uninsured patients that come to the door of The MED isn't something the hospital can change. So what would happen if The MED became terminal?
"I don't want to envision or contemplate The MED not being here," Johnson said. Pushed for a worst-case-scenario he refused. Johnson pointed to The MED's elite units, like its Level One Trauma Center, the only one in 150 miles.
"You don't want to contemplate not having that, " Johnson said.
State politicians will continue to talk about The MED, but in these tight economic times there is no guarantee of more state dollars. Johnson hopes President Obama's health care reform will cut down on the uninsured The MED has to treat, and soon. If it doesn't extending the hospital coverage fee is an option.
In short, Johnson says The MED is vital to the community, and he'll work to keep it alive.