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Monday, October 19, 2009

Ind. Gov't. - Re: "Where does Wishard's money come from?"

The ILB does not intend to start covering the Wishard rebuilding issue, but the front-page story by Daniel Lee in today's Indianapolis Star, subtitled "Revenue from nursing homes plays a big role, but critics say those funds can't be counted on" does raise a question. Some quotes from today's long story:

Health and Hospital Corp. owns about 35 nursing homes across Indiana, mostly outside Marion County. The facilities are operated by an outside company, American Senior Communities.

The nursing homes help boost the bottom line.

Health and Hospital Corp.'s overall revenue for 2009 is expected to be $848 million, with nursing homes accounting for 42 percent of that, Chief Financial Officer Dan Sellers said. Wishard Health Services brings in 51 percent of the total.

The Health and Hospital Corp. estimates a surplus of $25 million at the end of 2009, all of which would be allocated to the hospital expansion, Sellers said. Of that, Wishard Health Services will contribute $12.5 million and nursing homes $10.5 million, Sellers said.

As Health and Hospital Corp.'s nursing-home division has grown, so have UPL payments: from $10 million in 2003 to about $48 million in 2009, according to Sellers.

Medicaid may pay a private nursing home $125 a day for a nursing home resident. But because Health and Hospital Corp. is a municipal corporation, it receives an extra $55 per day for each Medicaid resident in its nursing homes, according to Sellers. * * *

• The bottom line: Revenue from nursing homes will account for 42 percent of total revenue this year, Marion County Health and Hospital Corp. Chief Financial Officer Dan Sellers said. The organization owns about 35 nursing homes across Indiana, including American Village in Indianapolis (above).

• The question: Will the Health and Hospital Corp. be able to pay off debt for the Wishard expansion without raising taxes in the event federal funds for nursing-home care decline?

The question is this: Have these private nursing homes in other counties applied for the 10-year retroactive property tax refund discussed in earlier ILB entries from Oct. 4th and Oct. 3rd, under the headings "Requests for retroactive property tax exemptions threaten county budgets" and "Did an amendment to this year’s state budget open the door to tax refunds for nursing homes across the state?"

If so, and if the refund efforts are successful, other counties' property taxpayers will be paying for the Wishard expansion.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 19, 2009 07:53 AM
Posted to Indiana Government