Mesa View, which is a little more than an hour’s drive east of Las Vegas, has a high percentage of patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
“Am I going to say I’m not going to take care of 40% of our patients at the hospital or the clinic?” Adams said, adding that it would be a “tough deal” to be forced to reject patients because they didn’t have traditional Medicare.
Mesa View has 21 Medicare Advantage contracts with multiple insurance companies. Adams said he has trouble getting the plans to pay for care the hospital has provided. They are either “slow pay or no pay,” he said.
In all, the plans owe Mesa View more than $800,000 for care already provided. Mesa View lost about $1.3 million taking care of patients, according to its most recent annual cost report.
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/medicare-advantage-rural-hospitals-financial-pinch/