Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Cuts To Get Hearing In Front Of Energy And Commerce Next Week
Medicaid DSH is the second-largest federal program to boost hospital Medicaid funding, representing about $12 billion in federal spending annually. It has been the subject of a political fight over proposed reforms to the program.
Modern Healthcare:
House Committee To Discuss DSH Cut Repeal Next Week
The House Energy and Commerce Committee next week will consider a full repeal of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts, a sign that hospitals are getting closer to securing the top lobbying priority for safety net providers and academic medical centers. The committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on proposed legislation from Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), whose home state gets the single largest so-called Medicaid DSH allotment in the country. In fiscal 2018, New York received $1.8 billion of the roughly $12 billion in annual federal payments. (Luthi, 5/30)
In other CMS and Medicaid news —
Modern Healthcare:
Health IT Coalition Wants Information-Blocking Rule Rescinded
The Health Innovation Alliance called on the CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to rescind their companion interoperability and information-blocking rules, arguing they would cause confusion and represent an overreach of the ONC's regulatory authority. The public comment period for the CMS' and the ONC's long-awaited proposed rules, which the agencies released in February, close Monday. The rules outline how regulators will require providers and insurers to share medical data with patients, as well as steps to discourage healthcare organizations from creating barriers that inhibit health data exchange. (Cohen, 5/30)
Georgia Health News:
Children’s Enrollment In Georgia Medicaid And PeachCare Shows Drop
Georgia’s Medicaid and PeachCare programs covered 20,000 fewer children at the end of 2018 than the year before, a new report says. That 1.6 percent drop is less than an overall 2.2 percent decline in enrollment nationally, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. (Miller, 5/30)
