Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, might not have been high on the favorite-politician list of area physicians in election years past. But if he works some legislative magic over Rowan’s new “micropolitan” status, he should become the darling of the medical set —and anyone else who relies on Rowan Regional Medical Center.
The Office of Management and Budget established new regulations at the end of 2000 that would set aside Rowan County —and many other communities around the country — as a micropolitan area. That took Rowan out of the larger Charlotte metro area in federal eyes, if not in fact.
The biggest, most immediate impact would be the way Medicare reimburses Rowan Regional and others who get Medicare payments. Rather than continue to pay providers here at a rate competitive with peers in Charlotte, Medicare would start reimbursing Rowan providers at a lower rate.
Whoa, say Rowan Regional’s chief numbers crunchers. That could cost us nearly $3 million a year. That, in turn, would force the hospital to cut back some services (no one has said what) and otherwise sink into a financial funk.
The federal government gives, the federal government takes away. But Watt offers some hope that he may be able to team up with representatives from similarly affected communities and finagle an adjustment of some sort. Rowan might or might not still be a micropolitan area, but he hopes it would not suffer a cut in Medicare reimbursements.
Cost-conscious bureaucrats (is that an oxymoron?) actually may be on the right track to recognize that hospitals and doctors in remote, rural areas do not need to be reimbursed at the same rate as those in the nation’s metropolises. But Rowan County hardly fits the remote, rural description. Wedged between the big medical markets of Winston-Salem and Charlotte, Salisbury is buffeted by competitive forces from both directions. A cut in reimbursements to Rowan Regional could hurt the hospital’s ability to serve local patients.
So, hats off to Watt for taking up Rowan Regional’s cause. He may not have the most logical district —created as a majority-minority district, the meandering 12th has been the subject of a baffling array of court decisions. But Watt perseveres, and he knows his stuff. He’s had success along these lines in the past, helping Iredell County, and he believes what’s happening to Rowan now is unfair. That makes him a good man to have on the hospital’s side — a good congressman.
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