The American Hospital Association says that U.S. “hospitals and health systems face catastrophic financial challenges in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to a new report the AHA says medical facilities are expected have lost over $200 billion just in the months between March and June of this year because of the Covid19 pandemic.
The top reasons for the financial trouble are:
- the effect of COVID-19 hospitalizations on hospital costs;
- the effect of canceled and forgone services, caused by COVID-19, on hospital revenue;
- the additional costs associated with purchasing needed personal protective equipment; and
- the costs of the additional support some hospitals are providing to their workers.
“Although the federal government moved quickly to provide relief, more help is needed. Critics have argued that hospitals were well funded prior to the COVID-19 public health emergency, however, the reality is that many hospitals were already facing financial pressures…Hospitals and health systems will need more funds to treat patients, save lives, and get America back on its feet,” the report reads.
Many hospitals have been forced to become “Covid-only,” having left open capacity at their facilities in anticipation of waves of Covid19 patients that never came. Many Americans are also foregoing routine procedures for fear of going to a hospital and contracting Covid19 there. All of this is combining to create a cash crunch for hospitals and hospital systems.
You can read the report in its entirety here.