Joint statement: Guarantee the Survival of the Healthcare Safety Net

Jan 10, 2021 | Hospital Issues

Medicaid Matters joined NYC Health + Hospitals, labor unions, the Commission on the Public’s Health System, the Community Service Society of NY, and many other groups and organizations to advance the following priorities to protect safety-net hospitals:

  • Target Indigent Care Pool and Disproportionate Share Hospital (ICP/DSH) funding to Essential Safety Net Hospitals: This funding is supposed to support hospitals providing a disproportionate share of health care services to low-income Medicaid and uninsured patients, but in New York this funding is widely distributed to hospitals that do not need it or do not deserve it. The distorted distribution of funds harms the public and private safety net hospitals that serve low-income, immigrant, communities of color, and rural communities. ICP/DSH funding should be exclusively directed to hospitals that meet the definition of Enhanced Safety Net Hospitals under PHL Section 2807-c(34).
  • No Medicaid cuts to Enhanced Safety Net Hospitals: Enacted and proposed reductions in Medicaid spending disproportionately affect low-income, medically vulnerable and communities of color. We cannot reduce Medicaid funding to Enhanced Safety Net Hospitals during a pandemic that has ravaged our most vulnerable people.
  • Medicaid reimbursement rates should be increased to support safety net hospitals – Safety net providers rely heavily on Medicaid funding, which pays much less for services than private insurers, and which unfairly underpays for services that are used by vulnerable communities and not provided by private hospital systems.

The full statement may be downloaded here.