TRAVERSE CITY -- Treating anyone who walks through the doors whether they have insurance or not has doubled Munson Medical Center's charity and bad debt amounts in the last four years. A partnership with Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids may be the answer to the problem.
Munson Medical Center is a non-profit hospital and officials say its responsibility is to the community. Chief Financial Officer Mark Hepler says they want to continue caring for patients regardless of their financial situation. A possible merger with Spectrum would mean more access to capital and would also help secure their financial future.
"With Michigan's economy the way it is, which is translated into deficits at the state level because of the high cost of Medicare, we're concerned about where this is going to go in the future and how it will be paid," said Hepler.
62% of Munson's revenue comes from government sources and decisions by the federal and state governments have a large impact on Munson's ability to create revenue.
Approximately $70 million people nationwide are without insurance and Hepler says this is one of the biggest reasons for the enormous increase in debt. Bad debt has more than doubled since 2006.
Hepler says that with businesses lowering coverage and raising co-pays, people who do have insurance are still unable to pay.
"If you have an insurance plan and you have a $200 co-pay for example, and you don't pay that and we make efforts to collect that from you or make efforts for a payment plan and you don't respond to us, then we turn you over to bad debt," said Hepler.
So where does the Spectrum merger stand? So far no decisions have been made. Hepler says he predicts the numbers have plateaued this year. With healthcare reform, new jobs and a possible merger with Spectrum, Hepler sees charity cost and bad debt going down in the next five years.
