HAP and the American Hospital Association (AHA) will host a February 15 advocacy day in Washington to urge the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to reject hospital payment cuts and extend key hospital provisions as part of the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, enacted at the end of 2011. HAP has scheduled meetings with Senator Casey and staff, and Senator Toomey’s senior counsel. Pennsylvania hospital leaders participating in the advocacy day should schedule meetings with their individual House members in the afternoon. Hospital and health system leaders should confirm attendance by February 10.

U.S. not-for-profit hospitals face increasing financial pressures, according to two new reports by credit rating agencies. Moody’s Investors Service said its outlook for the sector remains negative for 2012, “based on modest projections for hospital revenue growth over the next 18 months, the expectation of ongoing economic softness throughout the country, financial and operating pressures resulting from regulatory changes, and continued balance sheet challenges.” In a separate report, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services said credit quality and ratings for the sector “will be negatively affected, perhaps as early as 2013, due to an increasingly difficult operating environment. Conditions include tighter revenues, weaker payer mixes, generally declining to at best stable inpatient volume trends, the lingering impact of the recent recession, and health reform.”

Governor Corbett has nominated Gary Tennis of Philadelphia to serve as Secretary of the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, which is being created as a result of the passage of Act 50 of 2010. Act 50 establishes a plan for the management and allocation of state and federal funds to oversee alcohol and drug prevention, intervention, and treatment services. The Secretary’s first order of business will be to analyze the provision of drug and alcohol services, which are currently provided through several agencies, including the Departments of Health and Public Welfare. The goal is to ensure the highest and most effective care for Pennsylvania citizens struggling with addiction.