(HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) today released two reports, the Annual Report on the Financial Status of Connecticut’s Short Term Acute Care Hospitals and Facility Fee Trends. The Financial Stability report aggregates information concerning the financial health of Connecticut’s 28 acute care hospitals and 16 health systems. It includes financial performance data for individual hospitals, identifies fiscal trends, and reports on hospital hiring. The Facility Fee report examines current revenues generated by facility fees, the medical procedures that generate those fees, and the four-year trend data.
OHS Executive Director Vicki Veltri said, “Healthcare costs are high and growing—we hear that every day from residents, and we see that reflected in the data. These reports give us insight into the financial health of our healthcare systems—which are economic drivers—and help policymakers address specific cost areas—like prescription drugs. Everyone, including consumers, has a role in bringing down healthcare costs; information and data is vital to finding those solutions.”
Key findings from the Financial Stability report include:
- Hospitals overall earned $545 million from patient care and related sources; a 41% increase from FY 2017, resulting in a 4.4% statewide operating margin (profit).
- In FY 2018, statewide hospital operating expenses rose 6.4% while statewide hospital operating revenues rose 7.6%.
- Hospitals collectively earned $203 million from sources unrelated to patient care; a 56% decrease from FY 2017.
- Twenty-four of 28 hospitals achieved a positive total margin (profit); the statewide total margin was down about 1% from 2017 to 5.9%.
- While health systems that include medical groups lost almost $300 million statewide in FY 2018, the medical groups served as a referral source for other hospital services and that $300 million loss was offset by a statewide health system gain of $532 million from hospitals and other hospital-related subsidiaries such as imaging centers, labs, and outpatient surgery centers.
- Statewide uncompensated care costs remained static at 2.0%.
- Total hospital net assets and stockholder equity increased by $848 million, a 13% increase over FY 2017.
Key findings from the Facility Fee Trends report:
- Facility fees are up 1.3% to $422.9 million; patient visits generating facility fees decreased 10% in that same time period. (**This release corrects an earlier release that reported facility fees are up 3% over CY2017.)
- In CY 2018, digestive system and mammography services generated the most facility fee revenue, nearly $82 million.
- Sixty-two percent of the facility fee revenue was paid by employer and commercial health plans on behalf of policyholders; these health plans also paid the highest average facility fees.
- The top three provider locations generating the most facility fee revenues were Tully Health Center at Stamford Hospital; the Naugatuck Valley Surgical Center (St. Mary’s Hospital); and Hartford Hospital’s Eye Surgery Center.
- The top three medical services generating facility fees: Yale New Haven Health outpatient visit, Hartford Hospital cataract surgery, Stamford Hospital mammography.
Hospitals and health systems are mandated by section 19a-670 of the Connecticut General Statutes to file financial data every February and March. They are required to report facility fees under section 19a-508c (m) of the Connecticut General Statutes. The facility fee data received by OHS is net revenue, therefore an average facility fee for a specific procedure or a specific location is available. The exact facility fee for a specific procedure at a specific provider is not required to be reported under statute.
State law prohibits hospitals, hospital facilities, and health systems from charging facility fees for outpatient evaluation and management of medical conditions except in two cases: 1) unless a previous contract allows the fees, or 2) a satellite emergency department is delivering care. For uninsured patients, these fees may not exceed the Medicare rate. Hospital-based off-campus outpatient centers must give written notice to patients that they could charge a facility fee and must identify that as separate from any professional fee.
These reports are compiled by the OHS Health Systems Planning Unit.
**This release corrects an earlier release that reported facility fees are up 3% over CY2017.
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Juliet Manalan
Communications Director, Connecticut Office of Health Strategy
450 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106
860.418.7010 (office)
860.913.7528 (mobile)
