Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced June 24 that 54 rural hospitals in Kentucky have settled a 13-year-old dispute regarding Medicaid reimbursement rates.
The litigation began in 2007 with an administrative action and then a lawsuit in 2013. The hospitals' lawsuit challenged the rate setting methodology used for acute care hospitals from 2007 through 2015. The hospitals alleged the methodology used by Kentucky Medicaid was invalid, and the circuit court and appeals court agreed. The settlement was reached while the case is pending before the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Kentucky will pay $93.9 million of the settlement, and the rest will come from CMS.
"The funding is much-needed relief to our rural hospitals and health care workers that have been on the frontlines helping to fight the global pandemic," Gov. Beshear said in a June 24 news release. "We expect to be issuing checks as early as next week."
Access a list of the hospitals receiving a slice of the settlement here.
More articles on healthcare finance:
$30B for hospital upgrades included in $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill
U of Iowa Hospitals workers to give up PTO or take furloughs to offset losses
Private equity pushes into healthcare: 8 latest deals