By Alan Gionet | CBS Colorado
Times have been getting tougher and tougher in health care. It shows up in the copays, the bills and now Colorado hospitals are facing a crisis.
“Reimbursement is down everywhere partly because we have an increase in the number of uninsured patients across the country,” said Denver Health’s CEO Donna Lynne.
Lynne went before a Denver City Council committee Wednesday to ask them to advance a ballot question to Denver voters requesting a sales tax hike. The increase would be devoted to help pay cost shortages and would cost shoppers an extra 3.4 cents on a $10 purchase. It would mean an estimated $70 million to help meet the rising cost of running the services of the hospital, including emergency services, paramedics, clinics and other operations.
The hospital has seen a dramatic increase in indigent care. It is a safety net hospital that had a patient population of 280,000 last year with 1.3 million visits.