Receivables are a problem for any business in the service industry, to include media organizations.
Wise businesses aim to stop the dollars owed to them from mounting up until they become a serious issue.
There’s a reason some auto dealerships won’t release your vehicle unless you pay for any work done on them.
When it comes to governments in our region, we know that they face a laundry list of challenges.
These include chasing the all-important tourist markets, solid investment and bond ratings, housing markets, limiting the number of staff on the payroll, and managing what is in effect our money through careful stewardship of their budgets.
If you go to most private clinics, before you even see a medical professional, you are asked to pay. This is the nature of the beast.
Guam Memorial Hospital doesn’t operate like that, and hence some patients know that they will not have to pay a penny for the services they are given.
Of course, it’s true that the Government of Guam has the right to garnish tax refunds, but that doesn’t solve what has become a huge problem.
And so, in any given year, while the hospital gets payment from HMOs, Medicaid and honest self-pay patients there are many people who cannot or will not pay the hospital. The situation has remained unchanged for years , according to reports from the Office of Public Accountability.
One solution would be to charge people on arrival and make that policy. Even 50% upfront would help.
Another solution would be to use debt collection services like Guam’s small claims court system, which operates like a well-oiled machine.
The government of Guam has a team of financial experts who should also convene and assist GMH with a problem it cannot seem to solve by itself.
GMH is now reportedly writing off $70.3 million in debt, some of which has been on the books for decades.
The hospital has numerous problems, and while it has finally made the decision to reduce its workforce and hopefully will soon fix problems like the dangerous electrical system, its lack of fiscal management also needs urgent attention. mbj
Wise businesses aim to stop the dollars owed to them from mounting up until they become a serious issue.
There’s a reason some auto dealerships won’t release your vehicle unless you pay for any work done on them.
When it comes to governments in our region, we know that they face a laundry list of challenges.
These include chasing the all-important tourist markets, solid investment and bond ratings, housing markets, limiting the number of staff on the payroll, and managing what is in effect our money through careful stewardship of their budgets.
If you go to most private clinics, before you even see a medical professional, you are asked to pay. This is the nature of the beast.
Guam Memorial Hospital doesn’t operate like that, and hence some patients know that they will not have to pay a penny for the services they are given.
Of course, it’s true that the Government of Guam has the right to garnish tax refunds, but that doesn’t solve what has become a huge problem.
And so, in any given year, while the hospital gets payment from HMOs, Medicaid and honest self-pay patients there are many people who cannot or will not pay the hospital. The situation has remained unchanged for years , according to reports from the Office of Public Accountability.
One solution would be to charge people on arrival and make that policy. Even 50% upfront would help.
Another solution would be to use debt collection services like Guam’s small claims court system, which operates like a well-oiled machine.
The government of Guam has a team of financial experts who should also convene and assist GMH with a problem it cannot seem to solve by itself.
GMH is now reportedly writing off $70.3 million in debt, some of which has been on the books for decades.
The hospital has numerous problems, and while it has finally made the decision to reduce its workforce and hopefully will soon fix problems like the dangerous electrical system, its lack of fiscal management also needs urgent attention. mbj
