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Manatee Memorial ends indigent and uninsured patient care program

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BRADENTON — Manatee Memorial Hospital recently notified stakeholders that as of June 1 it will no longer provide indigent and uninsured patient care with the exception of ER services required by the acceptance of Medicare/Medicaid.

"Good County," Manatee County's indigent health care plan, averages about 2,000 enrollees at any time. The hospital said it will also no longer accept unfunded referrals from the We Care Manatee nonprofit.

The for-profit hospital said it could not sustain the cost of unreimbursed care but would maintain discussions with the county regarding solutions. The hospital was receiving $2.7 million in funding from Manatee County.

County officials are inclined toward a community care-based model focused on preventative care and are expected to present a resolution on the matter to the BOCC at its June 11 meeting.

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  • WTF

    Manatee Memorial is owned by UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES, INC. that had 2023 Net revenues $14,281,976,000 UHS is one of the nation’s largest and most respected providers of hospital and healthcare services, with more than 400 acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities and ambulatory centers across the United States, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom…… Follow the money

    https://ir.uhs.com/static-files/9dc99368-aeca-4aa7-8895-ae6a40e2c73c

    Wednesday, June 5 Report this

  • san.gander

    There is not a Public Hospital in Manatee County! There is no sense of community in this country... all is for profit... no profit in it - all G-d's children can die! That is the direction of the 'For Profit" Christian Church Authoritarians hiding in "Republican clothing" these days! Yes, it would be just lovely if each person could work, earn, completely take care of themselves and their family, but we all know that is not reality... some are less able, unlucky, or venal. Some need a helping hand, or the support of their neighbor(s) for themselves and their family... some need protection "from themselves". As a community, we ought provide that... the days of let individuals or churches do it were never adequate. It takes the whole community to build a decent, humane society!

    Wednesday, June 5 Report this

  • nellmcphillips

    Manatee Memorial Hospital is a joke. They are for profit yet still can’t keep up with local demand for their services. I have been to hospitals all over the country including underserved hospitals and never found a hospital so corrupt and poorly operated. My brother was under for 5 days because they didn’t have food on hand for a gtube user. Then they made me bring in his food which was actually Medicare fraud. My brother in stage 4 cancer was left in the emergency room awaiting a bed for over 12 hours even though the Dr wanted him admitted. My brother was so uncomfortable so we left. Another time he wanted 5 days in the ER. When diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis they discharged him prematurely and he ended up going to Lakewood Ranch hospital where he was well care for and then referred to a nursing care facility. Lakewood Ranch is owned by the same company as MMH but is more efficiently operated and actually are for the people. I spent one day helping people waiting in the ER for a room by providing patients food and blankets as they sat there unattended for over 12 hours. Mmh is where people go to die. I filed several complaints with the CEO office to no avail likely because they do t care about Medicaid patients. Mmh is where people go to die. I will take ride to St Pete or Sarasota before I ever step foot in MMH. Dropping this program just shows MMH to be greedy.

    Wednesday, June 5 Report this

  • rayfusco68

    Four years ago 2 concerned Manatee County citizens and myself started a not for profit corporation modeled after two successful programs, one located in Wisconsin and the other in Oregon. This not for profit corporation provided premium assistance for persons that were deemed eligible of the Affordable Care Act insurance program. The successful programs that we used as models received their funding from the local hospitals and medical community. When we approached Manatee Memorial the hospital administration would not participate with funding and we could never get a meeting with Blake Hospital. Our program lasted 2 years before we ran out of funding.

    We obtained a plethora of data through the freedom of information act that showed the number and mix of patients being supported by payments to MMH, there were no personal identifiers in this data. The data showed that assuming all of the 591 in patient and over 5,000 er visit patients that MMH would have received at more than $15 million dollars in reimbursement for their care if they had been insured under the ACA.

    The ACA is government subsidized private insurance. It would be better to have Medicare for all, but that is another explanation to show how it would benefit both consumers and providers. The ACA is what we have today and using the Oregon and Wisconsin models creates a win for all.

    Wednesday, June 5 Report this