MACPAC approves Medicaid DSH recommendations

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission yesterday approved recommendations to improve and expand on data collected about the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payment program. The recommendations will be included in the commission’s first report to Congress on the issue in February. Specifically, they call for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect and report hospital-specific data on all types of DSH payments for all hospitals that receive them, and collect and report data on the sources of non-federal share DSH necessary to determine net Medicaid payment at the provider level. The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 requires the commission to submit an annual report to Congress on the relationship of DSH allotments to changes in the number of uninsured individuals; the amount and sources of hospitals’ uncompensated care costs; and hospitals with high levels of uncompensated care that also provide essential community services. According to MACPAC, the first report will be a baseline report of Medicaid DSH, including its history and current spending trends.