HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Calvo’s SelectCare claims that the Guam Memorial Hospital’s professional fees are three times the cost of Medicare fees, and while the hospital’s finance team will do a fee comparison, the findings will not change the newly implemented fees.
During the last GMH board of trustees meeting in late March, Resolution 2024-27 was adopted, which made new professional fee rates go into effect.
SelectCare, in written testimony submitted to the board on the new fees, requested that GMH reconsider the professional fees and do a comparison of fees at other hospitals in the area.
“They claim that our professional fees are 300% to 400% above the Medicare fees,” GMH’s Chief Financial Officer Yuka Hechanova reported to the board during the Wednesday meeting.
“The physician fee reference is the authority by which we follow to increase the professional fees, and so what we are going to do (is) an … analysis so we can respond to their concerns,” she continued.
Hechanova said that they would look at the fees at the Guam Regional Medical City.
“We’re just going to provide an analysis of the professional fees that we have versus, say, GRMC and compare it (to) the Medicare rate so we can present feedback to Mr. (Frank) Campillo’s testimony,” Hechanova said.
It was clarified for a trustee that regardless of the findings of the analysis, the fees that went into effect April 1 would remain intact.
“So we did have our hearing on March 19 for the new fees, but we also presented, we explained to the participants that we were going to effectuate our annual 5% rate increase effective April 1 and also our professional fees will be adjusted. These are things that we do annually,” Hechanova said.
The testimony from SelectCare also raised other concerns about fees.
“One of their concerns has been with the recent room and board rates that we instituted back in November. They are asking that we reconsider the annual 5% rate increase in April,” Hechanova reported.
The 5% increase instituted April 1, however, does not include adjustments in room and board rates.
“It does include all the other facility fees that we charge, but we excluded the room and board rate because they were brand new,” she said.
Guam Memorial Hospital is seen on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Tamuning.
