Health

Sen. Graham Suggests Tax Refund Garnishment For Residents Who Fail To Pay Hospital Bills

ST. THOMAS -- Uncompensated care. It's the biggest drag on the Schneider Regional Medical Center (SRMC) according to officials testifying during a Committee on Finance budget hearing on Thursday. It costed SRMC $28,753,566.25 in fiscal year 2014, and currently stands at $16,830,522.59 this year -- and will grow to $25,245,783 by October 2015 if current trends continue, according to the hospital's CEO, Dr. Bernard A. Wheatley. Uncompensated care is the total amount of healthcare services, based on full established charges, provided to patients who are either unable or unwilling to pay. Sen. Clifford Graham, chairman of the committee, said it is his belief that the government should pay for residents who receive attention but cannot afford it. "I've said it before and I'm going to continue saying it: for every dollar of uncompensated care that the hospital experiences, it is not the hospital's responsibility to pay for that," Graham began. "That is the Government...