Battered by the recession in 2008, Connecticut hospitals have taken an even bigger hit to their bottom lines in the first quarter of 2009, according to a new statewide industry report.
The total margin reported by state hospitals in the first quarter dropped to negative 11.5 percent, according to the Connecticut Hospital Association.
A growing gap in Medicaid reimbursements, increased charity care and severe investment losses – which have traditionally kept hospitals out of the red – amounted to an overall 1.1 percent deficit for the state’s hospitals in the 2008 fiscal year, the Hartford Business Journal reported this week.
The combined loss of more than $200 million in the first quarter of 2009 follows the $156 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the CHA.
Connecticut stands to receive $1.3 billion in Medicaid funding from the federal stimulus package, but many in the health care sector have raised concerns that proposed state budget cuts could jeopardize the state’s eligibility to receive the total amount.
