Here are seven key takeaways from HAP.
1. A report commissioned by the Federation of American Hospitals and the American Hospital Association shows an ACA repeal without replacement would trigger a $165.8 billion loss on net income for hospitals nationwide between 2018 and 2026. The report, released last week and prepared by economics firm Dobson DaVanzo, uses H.R. 3762 — the reconciliation bill vetoed by President Barack Obama in January — as its model of what an ACA repeal would look like. The bill would restore Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments that were cut under the ACA and repeal the ACA’s individual mandate, among other things.
2. In Pennsylvania, hospitals are scheduled to shoulder $17.1 billion in legislative and regulatory cuts from 2016 through 2025, including $9.5 billion resulting from the ACA, according to data from HAP.
3. Based on current law projections of payment policies imposed by the ACA, Pennsylvania Medicare DSH cuts for 2016 through 2025 are scheduled to exceed $2 billion, HAP said. Additionally, Pennsylvania hospitals would lose an estimated $7.5 billion from 2016 through 2025 in Medicare inflation updates.
4. HAP does not yet have preliminary estimates of the impact of the failure to restore the Medicaid DSH reductions under the ACA.
5. In total, under current law, the impact of all scheduled legislative and regulatory cuts to Pennsylvania hospitals is estimated to be $17.1 billion for 2016 through 2025, according to HAP.
6. HAP said it is in the process of considering/analyzing the expected impact of projected cuts to Pennsylvania based on expectations of the impact of repealing the ACA.
7. According to HAP, the Pennsylvania hospital association and state hospital leaders have expressed concerns to federal lawmakers about the possible detrimental effects of an ACA repeal without coverage and payment strategies.
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