HCMH looking for a $900,000 payback
By KENT THOMPSON
The phrase “Show me the Money,” has become part of the pop culture lexicon since being said in the movie “Jerry Maguire” more than 20 years ago.
It is hoped that CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services does just that for Humboldt County Memorial Hospital (HCMH) in the coming months.
HCMH and UnityPoint Health have been in a battle with the government agency on the definition of related party status and how much the local critical access hospital should receive in Medicare reimbursement.
Ralph Heasley, UnityPoint Health director of reimbursement for rural hospitals, was at Monday’s (HCMH) meeting and explained that HCMH is one of 16 of rural affiliate hospitals of the Trinity Health System out of Fort Dodge, as well as UnityPoint Health out of Des Moines, who have struggled with reimbursement issues from CMS during the past several years.
Heasley said across the UnityPoint network, $50 million is owed. He is hopeful the settlement for HCMH could come in as soon as February 2019.
Read more about this article and other news in this week's Humboldt Independent.