U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

U.S. Rep Mike Kelly, R-16th, said it would probably take more than increasing Medicare reimbursements to help small, independent hospitals and health systems that are struggling to make ends meet.

Kelly, who is running for his eighth term in the House of Representatives, spent some time Tuesday, Jan. 23, discussing a variety of subjects with the Butler Eagle staff.

He was asked if there is any discussion in Washington, D.C., about increasing the reimbursement Medicare pays to health care providers to help local hospitals like Butler Memorial Hospital.

“I don’t know that Medicare and Medicaid will help Butler Hospital,” Kelly said.

He said the emergency department at BMH has always been busy, but it has to be subsidized by revenue from other treatment and care performed in the hospital.

Kelly, 75, said he has had several procedures done at Butler Memorial Hospital over the years.

Health systems keep getting bigger through acquisitions and have the ability to pull medical talent from their system and the hospitals they acquire, he said.

“You can’t compete with them,” Kelly said. “When you lose that talent, you lose that inventory of hours you would normally sell.”

He cited the Surgery Center at Benbrook, which is a partnership between a group of Butler area doctors and Butler Memorial Hospital, as a success. He said doctors there have their own business structure. The facility’s success is evident, he said.

Reimbursement rates are not keeping pace with costs of treating Medicare patients, which are numerous in Butler County and Southwestern Pennsylvania, because the people who determine those reimbursements have never worked in medicine or business, Kelly said.

“People making these policies have never been on the field. They’ve never actually done that work or run that kind of a business. They’re government people,” Kelly said.

They also are the same people who got the country $34 trillion in debt, he continued.

Butler Memorial Hospital is part of the Butler Health System, which merged in 2023 with Excela Health of Greensburg to form Independence Health System.

Butler’s portion of Independence reported a $43.2 million operating loss in the 2023 fiscal year. The loss is nearly double the $22.7 million loss from a year ago. The five-hospital Independence Health System had a combined loss of $79.3 million for the 12 months ending June 30.

Regarding conflicts impacting Israel and Ukraine, Kelly said he finds people are split about providing additional military support for Ukraine, but he said support to Israel is important as it’s a valuable ally for the United States.

Russia does not want Ukraine to become a member of NATO and considers its attack as a reclamation of its original territory, he said.

Kelly likened Hamas attacking Israel to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

“These are bad people. Keep in mind, they don’t regard us as actually being human beings,” he said, about Hamas.

Regarding the budget, Kelly said for every tax dollar collected, 73 cents is mandated for Social Security, Medicare and loan interest, he said. Of the 27 cents left, 14 cents goes to national defense and 13 cents is left for everything else, he said.

“How do you divvy that up?” Kelly said.

One thing he said should be funded is designating the 500-mile Washington’s Trail as a national historic trail.

Kelly introduced a bill in December to direct the Interior Department to conduct a feasibility study about the designation.

The trail traces George Washington’s path in 1753 to Fort LeBoeuf in present-day Waterford in Erie County. The trail runs through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania, including Butler, Venango, Mercer, Crawford and Erie counties.

He said the designation would bring travelers to the area and business to area restaurants and hotels.

“I think it’s a great asset,” Kelly said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly visits the Butler Eagle editorial staff in the conference room on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle