Disproportionate share hospital payments are supposed to help safety-net providers that rely on Medicaid reimbursements, but lawmakers must re-examine the formulas directing these funds in order for this program to be sustainable, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, argues in a STAT News op-ed.
Not all hospitals receiving these payments truly deserve them, Mr. Grassley said, and it's up to Congress to re-examine the nearly 30 year-old payment formulas.
"When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, hospitals and providers were on board to enact $17.5 billion in payment reductions to the DSH. They accepted that reduction because of the savings hospitals would capture from caring for fewer uninsured patients," Mr. Grassley writes. "Other reforms were included in the ACA to recalibrate payment formulas to more equitably distribute DSH dollars to providers serving higher volumes of low-income patients."
But leaders have put off changes that were supposed to begin in 2014, which only "will drive us into the fiscal ditch," Mr. Grassley said.
"Congress kicked the can down the road, shirking its fiscal duty year after year. Every detour lawmakers take to avoid reducing DSH payments digs an even bigger hole," Mr. Grassley said.