OHH pushes back on State control
Olney Hamilton Hospital board members say they will push back on state lawmakers’ proposal to regulate what hospitals charge patients, saying the $1.08 million net profit OHH posted for the 2022 fiscal year is proof that local boards can look after their own books.
The Texas Hospital Association (THA) is asking hospitals to oppose House Bill 663, proposed by Archer City Rep. James Frank, who is chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee. The hospital association said the bill would “force hospitals and physicians to provide care at a rate defined by the government.”
“It’s a very unworkable bill. It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” OHH Administrator Mike Huff told the board at its March 24 meeting.
The THA testified against the bill at a March 23 hearing, saying it would be “financially devastating” for hospitals. “With nearly half of all Texas hospitals operating in the red and nearly one in 10 at risk of closure, it’s more important than ever to protect hospitals’ ability to recoup actual costs,” THA said in a statement.
An unaudited 2022 annual report showed that OHH wrote off approximately $22 million for charity and bad debt, which amounts to about 60 percent of its patient charges, said Lonnie Rue, head of the board’s finance committee. The hospital is already financially pressured by the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid, and relies on revenue from the hospital taxing district to turn a profit, Mr. Rue said.
“It takes all of this nonoperating income to operate the hospital,” Mr. Rue said. “Being a small rural hospital, it’s almost impossible to operate with an operating income. That’s why it takes all of this.”
Board members said Rep.
Frank’s bill amounted to “price fixing” and would hurt the hospital to have “some bureaucrat to decide what hospitals can charge.”
Board Chairman Dale Lovett said he has spoken with Rep. David Spiller, R-Olney, pointing out that pricing among rural hospitals like OHH and Faith Community Hospital in Jacksboro are “greatly different in our pricing ability” than United Regional Hospital in Wichita Falls, where Rep. Frank lives.
“It’s not good thinking,” he said. “If you read through the wording of the bill .. it says we want to guarantee that the insurance company or whoever they are being billed at the lowest possible cost. The lowest possible cost is not the same across the state.”
The OHH board also plans to shoot a new commercial featuring Megan Hammonds, the hospital’s new nurse practitioner to let people know “we’re open for business, come see us,” Mr. Huff said. Hospital staff are getting credentialed in a new pain management implant for which 80 percent of patients would be eligible and “could be very profitable,” Mr. Huff said.
The hospital also installed new security upgrades, including steel fire doors, an intercom system and card readers at the entry doors to limit access to patient rooms and the nurses’ station, Mr. Huff said. The emergency room has new electric doors to shield medical staff and a panic button that goes directly to the Olney Police Department, he said. The hospital also held an appreciation lunch on March 28 for crews who repaired the citywide water outage earlier this month.