Hospital Closures in New Jersey: 1992-2008
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v10i4.2069Keywords:
hospital closures, healthcare policy, healthcare delivery, healthcare historyAbstract
This paper examines the historical developments that contributed to the closure of twenty-three percent of New Jersey’s hospitals between 1992 and 2008. Through this examination, this paper determines which development contributed most significantly to New Jersey’s hospital closures during this timeframe. The paper argues that following the rollback of rate setting and certificate of need in 1992, most hospitals closed due to their large portion of empty beds, while public insurers’ failure to fully reimburse hospitals contributed less significantly. This paper evaluates the impacts of new medical technologies; managed care and diagnosis-related groupings; the Hill-Burton Program and demographic shifts; incomplete reimbursements to hospitals through charity care, Medicaid, and Medicare programs; the rollback of rate setting and Certificate of Need; and the burden of empty beds. These developments are analyzed individually to determine the extent to which each of them contributed to hospital closures. These developments are further analyzed in relation to each other to prove that the burden of empty hospital beds was the most significant factor contributing to this trend of hospital closures.
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