No Medicaid expansion reason for Mercy's plans to lay off up to 300 workers in four states

Operators of the Mercy health system are looking to lay off up to 300 people in four states this month, citing less money coming into the health care system because of reductions in insurance payments and a lack of Medicaid expansion in most of the states the hospital system serves.

“Like all health care providers, Mercy is managing the impact of market changes, including reimbursement reductions from government and commercial payers, lack of Medicaid expansion in most of the states we serve and declining inpatient utilization,” Mercy spokeswoman Barb Meyer said in a statement. “We have been expecting and preparing for these changes for several years and have made tremendous progress in redesigning the health delivery system to meet evolving needs.”

The specific number of layoffs that Mercy will make in Oklahoma has not been announced. Hospital leaders said they may know those numbers next week, although they anticipate a minimal impact.

Mercy is the sixth-largest Catholic health care system in the U.S. and the 20th-largest nonprofit health care system in the country, company officials said.