Dive Brief:
- Eager to collect at least something from formerly uninsured patients, hospital associations are at the forefront of the fight to expand Medicaid in the two dozen states that have so far refused.
- In those states that have yet to expand the program to income-eligible adults, hospitals are suffering losses in part because the federal government has enacted cuts to the Disproportionate Share Hospital funds to pay for aspects of the ACA. The reimbursement program had previously helped hospitals pay for uncompensated care.
- In various states, local hospital associations are working with whomever they can to encourage institution of the Medicaid expansion. In Missouri, for example, the Missouri Hospital Association is working with business leaders to move the discussion about Medicaid forward.
Dive Insight:
The reality is that Medicaid expansion is far from an answer to hospitals' problems. Medicaid can't make up for cuts in Medicare reimbursement in the ACA and sequestration, Robert "Bo" Ryall, president and CEO of the Arkansas Hospital Association, told Health Leaders magazine. Still, some money is better than none at all, and struggling hospitals will take what they can. State legislatures are going to be under powerful pressure to go ahead and make the Medicaid expansion work.