As many as 14 hospitals in Pennsylvania could sharply cut services or close outright if more isn\u2019t done to shore up operating costs and reimbursement on the state level, the Hospital + Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania warned in a report released Wednesday.<\/p>\n
HAP, which is the trade association for the commonwealth\u2019s hospitals, said in the report \u201cTime to Act\u201d<\/a> that hospitals as a group are in a new normal with higher costs and lower reimbursement that includes about $1 billion in losses, or a negative 1% margin, due to expenses that aren\u2019t made up by revenue. That\u2019s without taking into account the cuts through last year\u2019s federal spending bill in hospital payments through Medicaid and changes to eligibility<\/a> for government health insurance that is expected to take a $2.4 billion impact, or -3% margin, HAP said.<\/p>\n The HAP report<\/a>, which was done by Oliver Wyman LLC, said it\u2019s not out of the realm of possibility that things could be even worse, with the statewide average margin falling to -11% and a cliff of about $7.4 billion. This would lead to more hospital closures or drastic cuts in service. There have been 25 hospital closures in Pennsylvania since 2016, including Ellwood City Hospital in southwestern Pennsylvania in late 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n Click here to read more from our partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times.<\/a><\/p>\n Download the FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n TOP STORIES FROM CHANNEL 11 NEWS <\/p>\n \u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n