Memphis Hospital Asks CMS to Help ‘Pry’ Share of Indigent Care Funds from Mississippi, Arkansas

A Memphis hospital has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help it "pry" funding from Mississippi and Arkansas for treating uninsured patients from those states, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Officials at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, or the Med, located in the southwest corner of the state, said that the hospital lost more than $16 million last year as a result of treating uninsured patients from North Mississippi and Arkansas. Hospital officials have asked Mississippi lawmakers for a share of federal and state funds earmarked for "in-state hospitals for treating the indigent." Although Mississippi "designates" the Med as a trauma center under the program, the state has "barred" the Med from the "pool of funds." At the request of Med officials, West Tennessee Reps. Harold Ford (D), Ed Bryant (R) and John Tanner (D) sent a letter to CMS Administrator Thomas Scully asking for a meeting on the issue. Scully has not responded. Dr. Bruce Steinhauer, president and CEO of the Med, said, "There's got to be some solution for hospitals like ourselves in the corner of a state." The hospital has considered filing a lawsuit that "would claim Mississippi is violating the equal protection clause of the Constitution by not allowing an out-of-state hospital to share" the funding. The Commercial Appeal reports that rulings in similar cases involving West Virginia and New Jersey hospitals "support the theory" (Brosnan, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 8/28). For further information on state health policy in Tennessee, visit State Health Facts Online.