Let your voice be heard! Visit www.helpyourhospital.org to find out about funding cuts facing your hospital, why jobs in your neighborhood could be at risk, and what this means to your local community and then send a letter or e-mail.

2009 Advocacy

Long Island Hospitals Take $40 Million Cut in Medicaid Reimbursements

Legislature Approves $131.8 Billion 2009 - 2010 State Budget

Long Island's not-for-profit and public hospitals lost $40 million in Medicaid reimbursements when the state legislature approved the 2009 -2010 budget on April 1, 2009. This was achieved predominantly in three ways:

• The application of a gross receipts tax (GRT) of .35 percent on all hospital inpatient revenue, from all payers, before any accounting for expenses necessary to render that care.  The GRT accounts for about 45 percent of the cut. 
• Elimination of Medicaid trend factor, an annual adjustment hospitals receive to reflect increases in costs to provide care.  The trend factor is tied to inflation.
• About another 15 percent of the net cuts to hospitals in the LI region are the result of reimbursement reform and complex re-distributive funding mechanisms.  These inpatient payment changes expose too many safety net hospitals to significant payment disruptions. Long Island's public and teaching hospitals will be especially hard hit, due to the elimination of graduate medical education funding.  
  

This budget will inevitably force many of Long Island's hospitals to close and/or curtail programs and services. This will be followed by staff reductions.

The Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council (NSHC) was founded in 1955 by the handful of not-for-profit voluntary hospitals that served growing communities at that time. Today, there are 23 member hospitals, representing large network systems to the small community hospital. These hospitals serve the 2.8 million people of Nassau and Suffolk - the two counties that comprise Long Island. The Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council is an affiliate of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS).

Providing quality health care efficiently to all patient populations has and continues to be the driving mission of the Hospital Council's member hospitals. The Hospital Council exists to help its member hospitals achieve this goal. This is done through advocacy on the county, state and federal levels; through interpretation and monitoring of complex regulatory issues and public health mandates; through opportunities for professional education; and through the sharing of information and ideas that help member hospitals better serve their patients.

Resource Management Council (RMC) (click here) to Learn More About Waste Management Solutions for the Healthcare Industry

NSHC Celebrates 50 Years of Hospital Care on Long Island

Healthy Long Island Public Information Campaign

Message from the CEO

Message from Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council's CEO, Kevin Dahill:

"The not-for-profit and public hospitals that comprise the Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council (NSHC) work every day to provide the best and most appropriate health care to any one who requires it. This requires diligence in the areas of clinical care, quality assurance, facility maintenance, and professional training and education."