Biden to talk health care today at cash-strapped Mt. Sinai

Source: Chicago Tribune

A cash-strapped West Side Chicago hospital that cares for a large number of poor and uninsured patients takes center stage Thursday as the debate rages across the country about whether a public insurance option should be a part of reforming the nation’s health care system.

Vice President Joe Biden and White House health officials will lead a panel discussion on health insurance reform starting at 10:45 a.m. at Mt. Sinai Hospital, a nonprofit community facility where just 7 percent of its patients are covered by commercial insurance.

Unlike large health-care facilities with new buildings, hundreds of days' worth of cash on hand and access to hundreds of millions of dollars in capital because of their large pool of insured patients, Mt. Sinai operates with less than two days of cash in older buildings in need of capital improvements.

More than 60 percent of the hospital's revenues come from the Medicaid program for the poor, which has been known to pay low rates in Illinois, and an additional 20 percent from the Medicare program for the elderly. About 13 percent of its patients are uninsured. Sinai is excited the White House recognizes our important role as a critical health care provider on the West Side of Chicago,” said Alan Channing, president and chief executive of parent company Sinai Health System.


Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biden-mt.sinai-health-care-aug20,0,3212703.story

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