NH Hospitals, State Agree on Uncompensated Care Payment Plan

CONCORD, N.H. - In March, a federal court determined the federal formula New Hampshire used to determine payments to hospitals was wrongfully put in place. Now, a deal to has been struck. According to the Concord Monitor, the state owed $36 million more than had been budgeted for in 2018 – and $37 million in 2019.

Now, after heated public and private discussions, the state is on the cusp of a compromise: $22.1 million in fiscal year 2018 and $22.5 million in fiscal year 2019. And negotiators have found a new funding formula that will extend into 2024, overriding a previous agreement made in 2014 that was close to running out.

Under federal law, hospitals that treat significant numbers of Medicaid or uninsured patients may receive DSH payments – state and federal funds that help them recoup the higher costs associated with those patients. Exactly how much each hospital receives comes down to how many services it can count as “uncompensated care.”

This month’s agreement, packaged as part of an omnibus spending bill, House Bill 1817, pegs the state payments to hospitals at about 90 percent of the Medicaid Enhancement Tax they pay every year – an amount that gets doubled with a federal match.

“To read the full article, visit the Concord Monitor.

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