The bill, which would use the taxes to help fund Medicaid, passed unopposed. The Delaware Healthcare Association said it was an appropriate way of collaborating on ways to bring down healthcare costs, according to the report.
The tax money collected will be used to increase inpatient and outpatient payments to hospitals, and to develop or enhance funding for Medicaid initiatives. The funds could not be not be used to supplant or replace appropriations for programs.
“This is a tried-and-true method for strengthening state Medicaid programs, and I am thankful to our healthcare partners for agreeing that the time has finally come for us to work together to improve health outcomes for vulnerable Delawareans and protect our Medicaid program for generations to come,” Sen. Sarah McBride, who sponsored the bill, said in a March news release.
The bill will now be considered by the House.
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