In this letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, MACPAC comments on an August 2016 proposed rule that would clarify Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services policy governing how Medicaid uncompensated care is calculated when determining Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments.
The Commission observes that the lack of complete and timely data on all types of Medicaid payments and costs create challenges to better targeting DSH payments to hospitals with disproportionate levels of uncompensated care. The Commission reiterates its February 2016 recommendations for the Secretary to (1) collect and report hospital-specific data on all types of Medicaid payments for all hospitals that receive them, and (2) collect and report data on the sources of non-federal share necessary to determine net Medicaid payments at the provider level.