Dive Brief:
- Safety-net hospitals in states that did not expand Medicaid were expected to have a tough financial year last year; they received less Medicare and Medicaid funding than hospitals in expansion states under the Affordable Care Act.
- However, safety-net hospitals in some of the largest states that did not expand Medicaid actually had a better year, financially, then they did in 2013.
- One of the major reasons the hospitals did well was the improving economy; another reason was a decrease in the number of uninsured patients due to the ACA, according to the Washington Post.
Dive Insight:
Even though some safety net hospitals in states that did not expand Medicaid did better than expected in 2014, they shouldn't get too comfortable. "We are still very early in the Affordable Care Act, and one year does not make a trend," Daniel Steingart, an analyst with Moody's Investors Service told The Washington Post. "Just because they got though this period does not mean they do not have more financial pain to come."
Under the ACA, safety-net hospitals will see significant Medicaid funding cuts late next year, when it is anticipated that the number of uninsured Americans will decrease dramatically due to a nationwide expansion of Medicaid.
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