Financial Background

Thinking Responsibly

A large organization such as Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center must plan using historic data, current financial realities, and future estimates. Nationally, healthcare is in a state of rapid change and Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center must adapt to these changes.

MaineCare and Medicare reimbursement rates are going down, and will continue to do so, and we are working with the other members of Northern Light Health to find new ways to deliver care in better and more cost-effective ways. While we work on these new models of care, we must also grow and help the patients of our region.

The ongoing challenge to find efficiencies is driven by events on a national scale. The community is counting on leadership at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center to preserve local healthcare services for the future of people of this region.
 

Medicare and MaineCare

Medicare and MaineCare are governmental insurance plans that make up about 60% of the Medical Center’s "payer mix." That means the other 40% of our payer mix is comprised of other commercial insurance payers, and self-pay patients.

The Medical Center’s unusually high mix of governmental payers is caused by the demographic make-up of the population in our region: a larger percentage of elderly patients, a higher percentage of lower income residents, and the rural nature of our region.

Our challenge is to find ways to provide critical services to the region with an affordable cost structure. We continue to work hard to balance our service offerings with the costs required to support those services. Our goal is to be responsive to the needs of the patients of the region, offering high quality, safe, specialty patient care with maximum efficiency at the most affordable price possible.

IRS Form 990 is the federal tax return of organizations exempt from income tax. It is submitted by all tax-exempt organizations and non-profits to provide the Internal Revenue Service with annual financial information, as well as information on the organization's mission, vision, programs, community benefit, and finances.