Law Commons^™

The Future Of Medicaid Supplemental Payments: Can They Promote Patient-Centered Care?, Laura Hermer, Merle Lenihan

Faculty Scholarship

Supplemental Medicaid payments such as DSH and UPL are the exception to the financing of specific services to specific patients. Medicaid DSH funds currently finance over 30 percent of hospital care to the uninsured. As a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), DSH funds will be substantially reduced. At the same time, their importance will be heightened, especially in states that refuse to take up the ACA’s Medicaid expansion. DSH payments to hospitals have been plagued by a lack of accountability and transparency and an inability to assess whether patients benefit from such payments. Flexibility in the DSH program …