Tampa General expansion on Kennedy Blvd

[smiley]

Those three things have nothing to do with Tampa residents. They have to do with Washington and with Tallahassee - where Orlando area legislators are screwing us left and right

[ATampaArnold]

yeah its a national thing. Its based upon medicare cuts. Thats why there is wave of doctors and hospital groups merging because of the upcoming cuts in reinbursement.

[DShenise]

Its a change in reimbursement rates, not really a cut. Its a cut in money going out, but that is like saying you cut the money on buying a car because you negotiated a better deal. So yes less money is going out, but you end up with the same end product. Doctors in the US make substantially more than doctors anywhere else in the world. And its not just elective surgery driving up the averages.

[jonknee]

yeah its a national thing. Its based upon medicare cuts. Thats why there is wave of doctors and hospital groups merging because of the upcoming cuts in reinbursement.

It appears he was speaking of the changes Rick Scott wants to make to medicaid... Basically by adding them to insurance companies instead of working directly with healthcare providers. How this saves money is still TBA.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/...-grabs/1165728

Tampa Bay's Medicaid patients up for grabs

Hospitals in the Tampa Bay region that long have vied for patients now may band together to take on a bigger competitor: the managed care industry.

At stake: the multibillion-dollar business of caring for Florida's poorest residents.

Tampa General Hospital, All Children's Hospital and BayCare Health System — which includes the St. Joseph's hospitals, Morton Plant and St. Anthony's — are discussing forming a network to coordinate care for low-income children, pregnant women and poor adults.

The concept would allow the not-for-profit hospitals to compete directly with for-profit managed care plans. The driver? Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-controlled Legislature plan sweeping changes to the Medicaid program, which at $20 billion annually represents one of the state's biggest expenses.

Lawmakers think the state could save money by putting nearly all Medicaid patients into managed care plans run by insurance companies or health care providers. Currently, Medicaid recipients don't have to join a health maintenance organization, and can deal directly with doctors and other practitioners.

Local hospitals contend that they would do a better job at coordinating care.

"It's in the spirit of the needs of children and pregnant moms and adult citizens that are in the Medicaid program that we're looking to find a way that we can make every dollar of the Medicaid program count," said BayCare chief executive Steve Mason.

It's better to send tax dollars to not-for-profit local institutions that already are caring for residents than to national companies seeking profits for their stockholders, he said. And local hospitals are going to continue to care for the community's poor even if the for-profit companies decide to pull out.

Exactly what will change for the 430,000 Medicaid patients in the Tampa Bay area and 2.9 million around Florida? It's too soon to tell. The Legislature won't conclude its session until next month. And Medicaid is funded by both the state and federal government, so Washington would weigh in.

But because the hospitals have so much at stake, their leaders have started planning. Seventy percent of patients at All Children's are covered by Medicaid, as are half the moms who give birth at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital. At Tampa General, nearly 75 percent of deliveries and one in five patients overall are covered by Medicaid.

"We feel we're better together," All Children CEO Gary Carnes said. "And it would be more cost-effective to be together than if we all are doing different plans."

• • •

Facing a $4 billion budget deficit, state lawmakers have targeted cuts to Medicaid, which accounts for more than one-fourth of the state's total budget.

Earlier this month, the Florida House approved a proposal that would shift most of the state's Medicaid patients into managed-care plans over the next five years. A bill analysis stated cost savings were not a sure thing, but enthusiasm among the probusiness governor and legislators has put this plan on the fast track. Similar legislation is advancing in the Senate.

More than half of the state's Medicaid patients voluntarily belong to a for-profit HMO, or are in a pilot program testing managed care by health care providers in five Florida counties along the east coast.

Nobody can say for certain whether either kind of managed care is saving any money over traditional Medicaid. And a Georgetown University study of the pilot program found that if money was saved, it could be because some patients didn't get the care they needed.

Local hospital officials say that if they banded together to form what is known as a provider service network, they could not guarantee cost savings for the state. But they do hope they can deliver better preventive care, said Tampa General CEO Ron Hytoff.

Currently, many Medicaid patients, like the uninsured, wait until they are sick enough to go to an emergency room. By then, their problems are usually more expensive to treat.

And many say they can't find private doctors who will accept Medicaid's reimbursements, which are lower than Medicare, the government plan for seniors, or private insurance.

Local hospital leaders say that if care were better managed, people would receive more preventive care, avoid the ER, and enjoy better health.

But again, no one knows for certain.

• • •

Jay Wolfson, a health policy expert at the University of South Florida, noted that lawmakers have focused largely on saving money.

"There's not a whole lot in the legislative language that looks at quality, safety, outcomes or access," he said. "It could be bad for care."

He commended the hospitals for talking about better care, not just cheaper care.

"It's really cool that you've got these hospitals coming together to talk about caring for this at-risk population," he said.

Hospital executives are talking about forming a corporation to receive state funding for 20,000 to 50,000 Medicaid patients. The corporation would contract with local physicians and hospitals to serve patients, said Steve Short, chief financial officer for Tampa General.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital has also joined the discussion, and leaders say they are open to including other not-for-profit hospitals, such as Bayfront Medical Center.

"It's not an exclusive club," Short said.

A consortium of local hospitals forming their own network is believed to be a new concept, Short said, one that developed in recent months from discussions among hospital CEOs.

Regardless of who gets the business, experts say the push for privatization should inspire new players to enter the market as they vie for Medicaid beneficiaries.

"It's going to be quite competitive," Wolfson said.

Richard Martin can be reached at rmartin@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8330. Letitia Stein can be reached at lstein@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3322.

[Jasonhouse]

"Regardless of who gets the business, experts say the push for privatization should inspire new players to enter the market as they vie for Medicaid beneficiaries.

It's going to be quite competitive," Wolfson said.

Deciding who pockets the bulk of the largess from unregulated government mandates always is. One thing is blatantly clear, the beneficiaries will NOT be local patients, local workers or the taxpayers.

[WeatherChannel]

Any news on this project lately? I drove by and from what I seen, it looks the same.

[TampaMike]

I drove by the site last night. Anyone know if the chain fencing around the site is new? It's not around the lot next to Kennedy Blvd., but the lot behind it. I couldn't see anything else since it was around 10 pm when I drove by.

[Jasonhouse]

That fencing has been there for a long time. TGH uses the site for employee parking, and then they shuttle them to the hospital.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

That fencing has been there for a long time. TGH uses the site for employee parking, and then they shuttle them to the hospital.

Thanks!

[koopalicious]

The project that is discussed on the last couple of pages of this thread was on the council agenda a couple of weeks ago.

It now includes a six-story building with retail along Kennedy, a ten-story garage on the corner of Cleveland and Fielding, and the possible replacement of the recently renovated existing structure with a six-story building in a similar orientation.

[GOOT]

The added retail is a nice addition. Let's hope they put out some renderings in the near future.

[TampaMike]

Here's what is included in the city council draft agenda

(planned development,
office, business/professional and medical, transportation service facility, retail,
multi-family residential, college and daycare/nursery facility)

I really want to see what they have plan now with all these things listed.

[smiley]

And you will likely get a box with a hedge and a small garage and surface parking because "the economy" will not allow them to build more.

Why didn't they put CAMLS there?

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by smiley

And you will likely get a box with a hedge and a small garage and surface parking because "the economy" will not allow them to build more.

Why didn't they put CAMLS there?

Should had put this, CAMLS, and the other TGH project altogether in one project. Which baffles me now is if thy plan on doing all this, why not just include this stuff with the TGH expansion project?

I think the economy is on an upswing right now and is a reason why TGH is going to demolish what they just renovated and build what is planned. I just wonder if the money people are fine dishing out thousands for renovations to a building that is going to be demolished.

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by smiley

Why didn't they put CAMLS there?

Corruption doesn't concern itself with such things.

[Del Mayberry]

Crews are there today. Not sure what type of work they are doing.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by koopalicious

The project that is discussed on the last couple of pages of this thread was on the council agenda a couple of weeks ago.

It now includes a six-story building with retail along Kennedy, a ten-story garage on the corner of Cleveland and Fielding, and the possible replacement of the recently renovated existing structure with a six-story building in a similar orientation.

Would this look like groundwork for this project?

image hosted on flickr

yam 086 by TampaMike2, on Flickr

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by koopalicious

The project that is discussed on the last couple of pages of this thread was on the council agenda a couple of weeks ago.

It now includes a six-story building with retail along Kennedy, a ten-story garage on the corner of Cleveland and Fielding, and the possible replacement of the recently renovated existing structure with a six-story building in a similar orientation.

WTF??? How did I miss this! Sorry, but this is quite exciting to me.


If only UT gave a shit about the neighborhood they're in, that segment of Kennedy could have become quite kickass.

[koopalicious]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Would this look like groundwork for this project?

I just passed by yesterday and there has been some progress. I'm surprised this is moving forward before their other project.

[Casey]

Perhaps their thinking is to get the parking deck built first, shift the surface parking from the Ferman site over to the deck, then start construction on the rehab facility on the Ferman site...