More work remains to be done.
But Doug Jones, MCMH president and chief executive officer, announced at the hospital s annual community meeting late last month that anticipated additional revenue should allow the hospital to balance the books by the end of the fiscal year June 30. It has been a remarkable turnaround, the more so because of the pressures brought to bear on MCMH and other hospitals as well by drastic cuts in Medicare reimbursements resulting from the federal Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Medicare, which provides health-care benefits to people with disabilities and those 65 or older, is the state s largest payer. Maine hospitals receive just 80 cents in reimbursement for each dollar spent on care and treatment for Medicare patients. A second major problem for many hospitals is the staggering cost of charity care.