The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), the independent state agency that collects and analyzes comparative information on healthcare organizations, has released its latest report on hospitals. PHC4 Executive Director Joe Martin noted the report shows Pennsylvania general acute care hospitals’ uncompensated care again decreased, as it has in each of the past five years, to $750 million in fiscal year 2018 from $766 million the previous year. The decline can be tied to provisions in the Affordable Care Act that improve access to health insurance, particularly for those unable to get coverage at their place of employment. The independent state agency’s study also showed the statewide average operating margin for hospitals decreased to 4.76% from 5.15% during the same time period.
