{"id":836978,"date":"2026-06-01T14:28:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T14:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/836978\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T14:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T14:28:21","slug":"boston-medical-center-system-reports-losses-ahead-of-looming-medicaid-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/836978\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston Medical Center system reports losses ahead of looming Medicaid cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey are hemorrhaging cash,\u201d Gary Young<\/a>, director of Northeastern University\u2019s Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research, said of the two hospitals acquired by BMC, the former St. Elizabeth\u2019s Medical Center in Brighton and the former Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton. <\/p>\n

The bleeding comes at a time when BMC, like many hospitals, is grappling with rising costs and is likely to face cuts in Medicaid funding next year. Experts predict the cuts will have an outsized impact on safety-net hospitals<\/a> like BMC, where roughly 40 percent of patients are on Medicaid, the government insurer for low-income and disabled people.<\/p>\n

The state earmarked about $387 million over several years to help BMC acquire and upgrade the two former Steward hospitals, which were later renamed BMC Brighton and BMC South. But they are still proving a drag<\/a> on the state\u2019s largest safety-net health care system.<\/p>\n

The red ink through March 31 recently prompted S&P Global Ratings<\/a> to lower BMC\u2019s bond rating, citing the hospital system\u2019s \u201cpersistent trend of operating losses\u201d largely \u201cassociated with the acquisition\u201d of the two hospitals. That downgrade will likely make it more expensive for BMC to borrow money, if necessary. S&P deemed the system\u2019s financial outlook negative.<\/p>\n

The two former Steward hospitals are making millions of dollars in improvements, from replacing an old medical record system that struggled to bill for services to fixing broken elevators. Both hospitals are also working to rebuild their networks of patient referrals, which were broken up during the bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

Compounding the situation for BMC are tensions with its unionized employees. Last month, the 475 nurses and other health professionals who belong to the Massachusetts Nurses Association at BMC South voted overwhelmingly to reject what the health system characterized as its \u201clast, best, and final offer\u201d in contract talks. The union has been talking about a possible strike.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, key provisions of President Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill will take effect on Jan. 1, which could have major implications for BMC, as they will for other US hospitals. The legislation features a national work requirement for Medicaid recipients that <\/b>the state estimates <\/b>could cause an estimated 300,000 <\/a>Massachusetts residents <\/b>to lose their federal health insurance. <\/p>\n

\"FromFrom left to right, President Trump spoke as Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, reacted during a roundtable at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16.Chip Somodevilla\/Getty<\/p>\n

For BMC, such widespread loss of coverage would likely mean providing more uncompensated treatment. <\/p>\n

In a statement on Thursday, BMC said it \u201cstepped forward\u201d to acquire St. Elizabeth\u2019s and Good Samaritan with the help of the state two years ago to preserve vital patient care and keep two large employers in Boston and Brockton from going under.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the operational and financial realities were more significant than disclosed,\u201d said BMC, which blamed Steward for \u201cyears of underinvestment\u201d at the two hospitals.<\/p>\n

Operating losses at BMC Brighton and BMC South accounted for $129 million of the $240 million in total losses that BMC had in fiscal 2025, which ended on Sept. 30, the statement said.<\/p>\n

Despite operating losses, operating revenues for the first six months of fiscal 2026 rose by $93.4 million year over year, reflecting increased patient volume and an expansion of retail pharmacy services, according to BMC. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain focused on maintaining high-quality care, rebuilding patient volume, supporting our workforce, and ensuring Boston Medical Center Health System can continue serving patients and communities across the Commonwealth long-term,\u201d BMC said in its statement. \u201cThe challenges of achieving our mission in periods of significant financial pressure are not new to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, state Senator William Brownsberger<\/a>, a Belmont Democrat whose district includes BMC Brighton, said he\u2019s concerned about the hospital system\u2019s future and placed much of the blame on the private equity firm that had owned Steward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the private equity owners who were running BMC Brighton for a number of years did untold damage to the finances of the institution,\u201d he said, referring to Cerberus Capital Management. \u201cThere\u2019s an awful lot of good people working [at BMC Brighton] and a lot of good care provided, but it\u2019s not strong financially.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Healey administration did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Young, of Northeastern University, said BMC\u2019s problems are serious but not dire.<\/p>\n

For one thing, he said, the health system has significant unrestricted reserves. (S&P said they totaled $1.6 billion and included enough cash to enable the system to operate for more than 64 days if revenue ceased.)<\/p>\n

Young also said everyone recognizes the crucial role BMC plays in caring for patients in Massachusetts, particularly the most needy ones. The hospital \u2014 created in 1996 through a merger of Boston City Hospital and Boston University Medical Center \u2014 is both the principal teaching hospital for BU\u2019s medical school and the largest safety-net hospital in New England, with about three-quarters of patients considered low-income. The patient population also reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of Boston and the surrounding communities, and includes a number of recent immigrants and refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re too essential to fail,\u201d Young said of BMC\u2019s hospitals.<\/p>\n

Among the major challenges BMC faces in the near term is resolving its contract dispute with the union that represents nurses at BMC South. A BMC spokesperson said the hospital system has offered the Massachusetts Nurses Association chapter in Brockton a contract that includes a 7 percent wage increase over three years.<\/p>\n

However, the union says nurses at BMC South would receive wages more than $10 an hour less than what the hospital system has offered MNA members at BMC Brighton. A tentative agreement with nurses at BMC Brighton is scheduled for a vote this month.<\/p>\n

Joe-Ann Fergus, executive director of the union, said MNA members \u201cunderstand the current challenges faced by BMC.\u201d Nevertheless, Fergus said, BMC South had historically been among the five most financially successful <\/b>hospitals in the state, \u201cand we are prepared to partner with them to help make that a reality again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its statement, BMC said it won\u2019t budge in the dispute with the union. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe final offer that we have put forth is responsible, reflects the financial realities facing the hospitals and broader healthcare industry, and the financial terms of that offer will not change,\u201d BMC said.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jonathan.saltzman@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThey are hemorrhaging cash,\u201d Gary Young, director of Northeastern University\u2019s Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research, said…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":836979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[40719,36730,1002,184202,210,1141,1142,1005,29880,3092,80,91183,15010,209716,67,132,68,159164,2969,13594,222219],"class_list":["post-836978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-administrator","tag-centers-for-medicare-and-medicaid-services","tag-color-image","tag-donald-trump-us-president","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-horizontal","tag-mehmet-oz","tag-photography","tag-politics","tag-politics-and-government","tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","tag-secretary-of-health-and-human-services","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-us-president","tag-usa","tag-washington-dc","tag-white-house-washington-dc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}