JFL in Dire Financial Position as Outstanding Medicaid Payments Mount

Despite being owed some $7 million in outstanding Medicaid payments, management of the Juan F Louis Hospital officials say hospital staff continue to serve the public to the best of their ability.

In fact, Chris Lewis, senior vice president of finance at JFL, revealed that “we haven't received a full Medicaid payment since November.” In the interim, he told legislators that the hospital has been meeting with the Medicaid Advantage Plus office to “figure out where the disconnect is.” As far as the hospital’s management is aware, the challenge may stem from a “technological issue” between the MAP office and Gainwell, a Medicaid management system provider. This issue is scheduled to be resolved by mid-April, lawmakers were told.

Committee chair Senator Ray Fonseca speculated that the deficit in Medicaid funding might be causing management to fall behind on bills. Mr. Lewis confirmed that this was the case, admitting that insufficient funding has caused the hospital to “hold back on a lot of our payables.” Nonetheless, he shared that their financial team was exploring other avenues to collect other outstanding payments. The $7 million figure comprises “what's still pending and our Medicaid balance from inpatient and outpatient.”

Lawmakers, though, were left anxious about JFL’s financial position. Senator Diane Capehart declared that the situation was an “urgent matter” and plainly stated that “if we have money to get, we need to get it.” Summarizing the sentiment of several of her colleagues, she reminded the hospital’s team that “that's a lot of money that the hospital needs.”