Prospects Improve for Washington State Bill to Increase Medicaid Reimbursements for Rural Hospitals

By sending the measure on April 2 to the full state Senate for a vote, the Washington state Senate Ways and Means Committee revived the chances of a bill (S 5363) that would increase Medicaid reimbursements to financially struggling rural hospitals, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reports. Under the measure, whose companion bill (HB 1162) has already passed the state House, the state would enter into the federal Critical Access Hospital Program, which "allows eligible rural hospitals to receive Medicare reimbursements for actual costs of procedures." The bill would also establish a state version of the plan that would allow hospitals qualifying for federal critical access status to receive at-cost Medicaid reimbursements. While the state House passed the bill last month, the measure was not included in the Senate budget proposed last week. However, the state Senate Ways and Means Committee's action means the bill "still has a good chance of surviving," and state Sen. Lisa Brown (D), the chamber's "chief budget writer, said that she anticipates full state Senate approval. The House version would increase Medicaid reimbursements by roughly $2.9 million over the next two years, $800,000 more than the Senate version. Brown, however, said that a compromise could be reached during budget negotiations (Harris, Spokane Spokesman-Review, 4/3).