Congressional leaders urged to prevent Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital cuts

A bipartisan group of 51 senators, led by Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and James Lankford, R-Okla., this week urged Senate leaders to avert $8 billion in annual payment cuts to the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital program, which are scheduled to begin Oct. 1 and continue for four years.

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required reductions to the Medicaid DSH program over time, beginning in fiscal year 2014, with the goal that the law would increase health insurance coverage and hospitals would no longer need additional payments to offset uncompensated care costs,” they wrote. “Those coverage levels have not been fully realized yet these hospitals continue to care for uninsured and underinsured patients. 

“Congress has acted in a bipartisan manner on multiple occasions over the last eleven years to avert the Medicaid DSH cuts. We ask you to continue this effort and act before these reductions take place. … Cuts of this magnitude could undermine the financial viability of hospitals, threatening access to care for the most vulnerable Americans. It is essential that we continue to protect those who have come to rely on the services provided by Medicaid DSH hospitals.”

Over 230 House members (https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2023-05-15-congressional-leaders-urged-prevent-medicaid-disproportionate-share-hospital-cuts) also have joined the AHA and other national hospital groups in urging Congress to prevent the cuts due to the potential adverse impact on hospitals, patients and communities.