Augusta Georgia Hospital's Worksheet S-3 Pt IV & V Comparison
Worksheet S-3, Part IV
This worksheet on the Medicare Cost Report is used to report wage related costs. These costs are the additional benefits employers pay for employees: Benefits package. Things like retirement plan match, health insurance, life insurance, and workers’ compensation.
| Hospital | FYE | Retirement | Health & Ins | Taxes | Tuition | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AU Medical Center | 06/30/21 | $9,769,324 | $31,735,270 | $17,369,972 | $375,566 | $59,250,132 |
| University Hospital | 12/31/21 | $1,461,526 | $25,059,549 | $15,051,568 | $209,901 | $41,782,544 |
| Doctors Hospital | 03/31/22 | $2,779,912 | $10,514,120 | $7,684,943 | $148,648 | $21,127,623 |
| Burke Medical Center | 12/31/21 | $0 | $309,495 | $257,570 | $15,541 | $582,606 |
| University Hospital McDuffie | 12/31/21 | $55,638 | $739,417 | $494,252 | $0 | $1,289,307 |
First, I need to note that Burke Medical Center’s information is a partial period, about a half years worth of data.
AU Medical Center has the highest amount, which corresponds to all of the other data we have seen: highest FTEs, highest wages. From just looking at this data, it appears University Hospital doesn’t have as good of a retirement match as Doctors and AU Medical. But then their insurance costs appear to be higher, so maybe they offset the retirement match with lower insurance costs or supplement insurances (like life insurance). That would help a lower level employee out more. But this is just a guess based on the data alone.
Worksheet S-3, Part V
This worksheet shows contract labor summary and benefits costs summary for the entire hospital. It breaks down the data between the hospital, distinct-part units (separately Medicare certified units like a rehab or a psych) and other excluded area benefits.
There’s not a whole lot of data here. The thing that sticks out the most is how much direct patient care contract labor AU Medical paid out: almost $85 million. University Hospital comes in second at $17 million. Doctors hospital is only reporting direct patient care contract labor for their rehab unit in the amount of $411,729.
The last section of this worksheet just breaks out the benefits between the hospital, distinct part units, and other excluded units. These are the benefits that were somewhat detailed out on S-3 Part IV.
The majority of the benefits are applicable to the hospital component. Doctors Hospital has a rehab unit, so they have reported some benefits attributable to that unit in the amount of $502,793. University Hospital and Doctors Hospital both report some other excluded unit benefits, but these figures are pretty much immaterial as compared to their total benefit costs.
Musing Revelation
I’ve gleaned some interesting information from taking a look at these worksheets. It appears that Doctors Hospital has a pretty good retirement match. University Hospital provides more life insurance than AU Medical as compared to wages and FTEs. University Hospital has really high workers compensation insurance as compared to the other hospitals.
Overall, these details may be meaningless. But as I dig through these cost reports I am learning more and more about these hospitals. It’s the journey that is important to me. The learning process is an adventure unto itself. Never stop learning.