Massachusetts House Panel Approves $42M in Additional Funding for State Hospitals

The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee on Aug. 21 approved a measure that would allocate $42 million of the state's FY 2001 budget surplus for increased Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals and grants for "financially distressed" hospitals, the Springfield Union-News reports. Under the measure, part of a larger $494 million surplus spending bill, hospitals would receive $27 million in additional Medicaid reimbursements and $15 million in grants. Craig Melin, president of Cooley Dickinson Hospital and past chair of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, said that the additional funding "sets the stage" for reducing the annual $200 million gap between hospital Medicaid costs and state reimbursement rates. Medicaid only covers about 71% of hospital costs on average, the Union-News reports. "The problem is the gap is so large that it is affecting care all over the state," Melin said. The full state House will likely pass the measure today. The state Senate approved a similar bill last June. In addition to the $42 million plan, Massachusetts lawmakers will likely include a "financial-relief package" for hospitals in the $22.9 billion FY 2002 state budget, including up to $20 million in grants for "financially distressed" hospitals, up to $35 million in additional Medicaid reimbursements and a reduction in hospital assessments to the state's "free care pool" for treating the uninsured (Ring, Springfield Union-News, 8/22). For further information on state health policy in Massachusetts, visit State Health Facts Online.