California hospitals are asking the state for $1B in relief to stave off pay cuts & furloughs; Would be in addition to $3B in federal relief already received

Ana B. Ibarra / Cal Matters
Link to story

Context

Empty hospitals are losing millions per day due to declines in revenue and increased costs related to coronavirus; Health insurers seeing increased profitability – CNBC
American Hospital Association estimates $200B in losses for hospitals from March through June 2020; Stemming from lost services revenue, increased PPE expense, and a net loss in treating COVID cases – AHA
HHS carves up relief funds: allocates $10B for rural hospitals, $10B for COVID hotspots – Fierce Healthcare
‘Confusion, Fear And Distrust’: U.S. Hospitals Slam Federal Coronavirus Response In Watchdog Report – Forbes

Discussion

This is completely absurd.

Sutter Health alone holds more than 5 times this amount in cash & portfolio investments, incl ~$0.5B in overseas stock markets.

Their cash hoard could cover all employee salaries and benefits for the rest of the year, even if revenue went to zero. https://t.co/mz2NEmjD88
— Dan O'Neill (@dp_oneill) May 7, 2020

Worst possible argument for a taxpayer-funded bailout.

And as it happens, if you look at Sutter’s portfolio, over $1B appears to be in Treasuries and Agencies, where prices are actually up, so they might book gains if they sold those holdings.
— Dan O'Neill (@dp_oneill) May 8, 2020