A bill making its way through the Washington Senate would make Medicaid reimbursements to small rural hospitals more comparable to Medicare rates.
Senate Bill 5859, which has been approved by various Senate committees, would increase Medicaid rates to "sole community hospitals" by 25 percent over the hospital's regular fee-for-service rates from Medicare. The change would go into effect Jan. 1, 2015.
State senators defined a sole community hospital as a hospital with fewer than 150 acute-care licensed beds as of fiscal year 2011, and they must be "owned and operated by the state or political subdivision."
Senators said the bill would help small hospitals that aren't designed as critical access hospitals. Many Washington hospitals rely on high numbers of Medicaid and Medicare patients, and "our hospitals struggle financially and struggle to keep access in the community."
Executives from Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen and Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles were among those who testified in front of the Washington Senate Ways & Means Committee.
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