More than 250 hospitals and health systems are urging Congress to halt the $8 billion reduction to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital funding, set to begin Oct. 1.
The funding cuts, part of the Affordable Care Act, will curb Medicaid DSH funding by $8 billion in fiscal years 2024 through 2027 — a $32 billion reduction total. In their Sept. 14 appeal to Congress, safety-net hospitals urged lawmakers to “eliminate, at a minimum” the $16 billion in cuts scheduled for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
The Medicaid DSH program, established in the 1980s, provides financial support to hospitals that serve a significantly disproportionate number of low-income patients and the under- and uninsured.
“The need for DSH funding is even greater now, as hospital expenses per patient have increased significantly since the pandemic,” the hospitals, represented by the association America’s Essential Hospitals, wrote to Congress. They said ongoing high levels of uncompensated care nationwide make Medicaid DSH cuts indefensible, Becker’s reports. Read more.
