Public and private hospitals are at odds in Texas over how a supplementary Medicaid program pays their institutions, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
The supplementary Medicaid program covers some of the difference between what the federal government reimburses hospitals and what hospitals actually spend on Medicaid patients and the uninsured. Public hospitals have taken on more of the indigent and uninsured population, thus negatively affecting their Medicaid disproportionate share payments.
Private hospitals in Texas have increased their level of Medicaid care as of late, and it has come at the expense of public hospitals. David Lopez, president of the Harris County Hospital District, a public hospital system, said the program used to split funds 50-50 between public and private hospitals in 1996. In 2012, public hospitals are projected to receive $78 million compared with $721 million for private hospitals, according to the report.
Public hospitals have petitioned the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, proposing the money be more equally divided. Private hospitals argued that as hospitals prepare for a Medicaid expansion, the program should not focus on services for the non-Medicaid eligible population "at the expense of serving those who legitimately qualify for Medicaid," according to a letter from the Texas Association of Voluntary Hospitals.
The supplementary Medicaid program covers some of the difference between what the federal government reimburses hospitals and what hospitals actually spend on Medicaid patients and the uninsured. Public hospitals have taken on more of the indigent and uninsured population, thus negatively affecting their Medicaid disproportionate share payments.
Private hospitals in Texas have increased their level of Medicaid care as of late, and it has come at the expense of public hospitals. David Lopez, president of the Harris County Hospital District, a public hospital system, said the program used to split funds 50-50 between public and private hospitals in 1996. In 2012, public hospitals are projected to receive $78 million compared with $721 million for private hospitals, according to the report.
Public hospitals have petitioned the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, proposing the money be more equally divided. Private hospitals argued that as hospitals prepare for a Medicaid expansion, the program should not focus on services for the non-Medicaid eligible population "at the expense of serving those who legitimately qualify for Medicaid," according to a letter from the Texas Association of Voluntary Hospitals.
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