2010 Testimony

2009 Testimony

The Delaware Valley Healthcare Council (DVHC) of The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania is a membership organization representing more than 50 acute and specialty care hospitals and health systems, over 30 facilities providing inpatient behavioral health services and 20 facilities providing physical rehabilitation in southeastern Pennsylvania.

DVHC appreciates this opportunity to express the regional hospital community’s concerns about any fare increases that would be undertaken by SEPTA at a time when our region, state, and nation are struggling to recover from the worst recession in more than 50 years.

The hospital community appreciates the reasonableness of SEPTA’s proposed increases – an average 6 percent system-wide, in keeping with cost-of-living increases since the last fare increase in 2007. In addition, hospitals strongly support SEPTA’s plans to maintain current service without reductions. Operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, hospitals experience significant disruptions when public transportation services are reduced or eliminated.

The Delaware Valley hospital community recognizes the financial challenges that SEPTA has in light of state budget shortfalls. We realize that the federal government’s rejection of Pennsylvania’s planned funding of public transit through tolling on Interstate 80 had a major, unfortunate impact on SEPTA’s plans for growth and rebuilding. Like SEPTA, Pennsylvania hospitals are also struggling to maintain adequate state and federal funding in the face of budget shortfalls.

Nevertheless, the hospital community must note the impact that proposed fare increases would have on employees and patients who rely on SEPTA for transportation to work and to access health care services.

DVHC hospital members report that as many as a third of their employees – 30,000 workers – use public transit everyday to get to work. Patients also make up a large segment of riders. According to SEPTA statistics for 2006, approximately 300 million trips (1) were taken for reasons that include work, school, and visits to healthcare facilities and medical offices.

Unfortunately, due to the effect that the recession has had on employment and income, even a 6-percent fare increase could be difficult for hospital staff and patients to absorb. Like SEPTA, some have not had cost-of-living increases since 2007. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, real median household income nationwide declined by 3.6 percent (from $52,163 to $50,303) between 2007 and 2008. This decrease offset the gain in income experienced over the previous three years and coincides with the recession that started in December 2007. Although the national economy shows signs of recovery, employment and compensation have yet to rebound.

In particular, Philadelphia’s older population is strongly dependent on public transit. SEPTA records indicate seniors make 88,000 to 95,000 trips daily (2), many to and from doctors’ appointments or hospitals for outpatient tests, treatment or therapy.

For some Philadelphians who rely on SEPTA to access health care, proposed fair increases could cause special hardship. According to 2006 data, one quarter of Philadelphians and one-fifth of Philadelphia households live below the poverty line. This population is more likely to depend on public transportation, and, at the same time, the least likely to afford any increase in fares.

We appreciate that SEPTA must balance its budget despite state funding shortfalls. We urge SEPTA to work with government leaders to find a short-term solution to the funding gap in order to avoid fare increases at a time when hospitals, employees, and patients continue to struggle with financial challenges and uncertainty.

On behalf of our region’s hospitals and health systems, DVHC thanks SEPTA for providing this opportunity to express the concerns of Delaware Valley hospitals and health systems and the patients they serve.

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