Monday, July 14, 2003 Shriners' hospital faces dilemma
None of the 22 Shriners children's hospitals has a billing department. Every child is treated for free, and doctors don't have insurance companies dictating what they can and can't do.
"Shriners is unbelievable in the care they give," said Erin's dad, Kevin Feeney. "We'd really be lost without it."
But a money crunch is forcing Shriners to reconsider its 81-year tradition of free care. Low interest rates and a three-year stock market slump have eroded the fraternity's endowment, which provides 90 percent of the hospitals' funding. Since December 1999, the endowment has decreased by $2billion, to $6.2 billion. Meanwhile, operating costs have soared.
Administrators proposed closing as many as eight Shriners hospitals, beginning with the little-used Minneapolis hospital. But last week, delegates at the national Shriners convention nixed that idea and told administrators instead to study other solutions.
One possibility is boosting the endowment's investment returns. If the stock market returns to 1999 levels, the budget problems would be solved. The Shriners also hope to boost fund-raising and cut costs.
Perhaps the most difficult option under consideration is to begin billing patients' insurance companies. The hospitals would not turn away uninsured patients or charge insured patients for expenses such as co-pays that aren't covered.
But Shriners hospitals say they will be cautious about pursuing the insurance-payment option. They worry that doctors, who have the rare privilege of practicing medicine as they see fit, would have to justify their treatments to insurers. Doctors worry, for example, that HMOs wouldn't cover surgeries deemed experimental or would limit the length of hospital stays or number of therapy sessions.
"We're not going to decrease the quality of care, and we're not going to turn away any patients that can be helped," said Lewis Molnar, chief operating officer of Shriners Hospital Corp. From the Chicago Sun Times via Rantburg Shriners Hospitals depend on the generosity of many individuals, Shriners and non-Shriners alike, for the funding needed to continue operating this extraordinary philanthropy.
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a fully qualified 501(C)3 charitable organization under IRS regulations. Donations are tax-deductible. Charitable contributions work hard at Shriners Hospitals. Less than 5 percent of Shriners Hospitals' annual operating budget is used for administrative and fund-raising costs, and Shriners Hospitals are ranked at the very top among "charities that watch their pennies best."
To make a donation to Shriners Hospitals for Children, you can send a check, made payable to "Shriners Hospitals for Children," to any of the 22 Shriners Hospitals (see addresses of individual hospitals) or to the Office of Development, International Shrine Headquarters, 2900 Rocky Point Dr., Tampa, FL 33607-1460. OK, this caught my attention. Send them a check, please. I am. -- posted by Chuck at Monday, July 14, 2003 | E-mail | Permalink | Main |
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