Health center drops tax levy 22 percent

The Jefferson County Health Center Board of Trustees approved the 2014 fiscal year county budget during a public hearing at its regular monthly meeting Monday evening at the health center.

?The levy is down, and we?ve reduced the cash asking by $250,000,? said the health center?s chief financial officer Gene Irwin.

The tax rate will be $1.48331 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, which will bring in an estimated $1,019,642 for the health center.

The rate is a decrease from the current fiscal year?s tax rate of $1.89685 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, which was estimated to bring in $1,247,792.

The total taxable valuations in Jefferson County is up by $29,061,209 for a net taxable value of $699,875,450 for local taxing bodies, like the health center, to levy against.

Trustee Bob Keller pointed out that is the lowest the levy has been in 18 years.

?We?ve had a good year, and we wanted it to reflect in our tax asking,? said health center administrator and CEO Deb Cardin.

In his monthly financial report to the board, Irwin said the health center had another good month in January.

Irwin?s report showed the health center had a net income during January of $406,114, compared to the negative $193,495 it had budgeted, which is a 492.7 percent variance.

The net income for the year so far is $1,714,082, compared to the negative $397,805 it had budgeted, which is a 530.9 percent variance.

?We?re having a very good year so far,? said Irwin. ?And in addition to a good year, we?re collecting a little quicker, too.?

The health center?s gross account receivable decreased by $194,016 to $4,576,310 as of Jan. 31. In addition to this, there is a physician clinic account receivable of $82,399 for a total gross account receivable of $4,658,709. Total allowances were $1,326,000 for a net account receivable of $3,332,709.

A total of 4,050 claims were filed in January, with a gross value of $3,664,140. Medicare collections for the month totaled $982,608. Medicaid collections for the month were $197,621. Total patient collections for January, including Medicare, Medicaid and physician clinic, was $2,274,401.

The health center had an average daily census of 16.6 patients in January, which is more than the 12.2 patients it had predicted in its budget. Plus, the number of patient days in January totaled 514; it had predicted 376 days.

?I just want to caution you,? Cardin told the trustees, ?at the end of this week, the sequester kicks in for the 2 percent Medicare cuts. We?ll only get back 98 cents for every dollar spent.?

The Budget Control Act of 2011 mandates a 2 percent sequester of Medicare spending from 2013 until 2021 in order to help reduce the national deficit. The cut is to be made by reducing payments for health care services and Medicare Advantage; it will not reduce benefits to Medicare beneficiaries. The 2 percent cut to Medicare payments to hospitals, doctors and other healthcare providers will save about $11 billion.