Congress requires MACPAC to report annually on the relationship between federal disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments to states and three indicators of the need for DSH funds: (1) the number of uninsured individuals; (2) the amount of hospital uncompensated care; and, (3) the number of hospitals with high levels of uncompensated care that also provide essential community services.
This slide set reviews a draft chapter on DSH payment planned for the March 2018 report finding, among other issues, that:
- there continues to be little meaningful relationship between DSH allotments and the factors that Congress asked MACPAC to consider, even after DSH allotment reductions;
- 18 states have fiscal year (FY) 2018 DSH allotment reductions that are greater than the decline in uncompensated care between 2013 and 2015; and
- FY 2018 DSH allotments exceed the total amount of uncompensated care in 2015 in 11 states.