As the AJC reports:
Piedmont Healthcare announced Thursday evening plans to cut 464 jobs as part of an effort to save an estimated $68 million.
Totaling roughly 5 percent of its workforce, the cuts include 171 positions that were vacant or altered because of scheduling changes. Layoffs are coming from across the board, including Piedmont’s four hospitals, physicians group, heart institute and corporate division, spokeswoman Nina Day said.
Piedmont is a major hospital in Atlanta. The loss of those jobs is going to be felt throughout the area.
The move is, in part, a reaction to hurdles many hospitals are facing, including a growing number of uninsured patients, a new state hospital bed tax, anticipated cuts to Medicare reimbursements and the Medicaid expansion in 2014, Day said.
Georgia, looking for new revenue, decided the prudent thing was to implement a hospital bed tax. As with any other tax imposed on business, the customers (patients) pay the tax. The irony is, the bed tax was introduced to make up for current budget problems in funding Medicaid.
It makes you wonder what will happen when Obamacrap expands the Medicaid rolls in 2014.
Hospitals throughout the state have been forced to cut back and lay off workers over the past few years, especially in the wake of the economic downturn, Bloye said. Many people lost their jobs, increasing the number of uninsured and under-insured patients. Others put off elective surgeries, which has had a dramatic impact on hospitals’ bottom lines, he said.
While hospitals will get more insured patients as a result of the Medicaid expansion in 2014, it’s a big trade off with Medicare cuts, he said. State officials have estimated Georgia could add more than 600,000 enrollees to its Medicaid program as a result of the expansion.
As Bill Clinton said, "It's the economy, stupid".
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