The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced that states can access an additional $268 million authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help pay hospitals to treat their most vulnerable patients.
Disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs)--those that serve a disproportionate share of low-income or uninsured individuals--are eligible. States receive an annual allotment to make payments to DSHs to account for higher costs associated with treating uninsured and low-income patients. The Recovery Act increases the amount of allotments available to states from approximately $11.06 billion to $11.33 billion for 2009.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will notify states about the availability of the increased portion of allotments for hospitals. Because not all states spend their full DSH allotments, states must demonstrate they have used all of their existing fiscal year 2009 DSH allotments before this new funding can be accessed. States must request the additional funds from CMS as part of their quarterly Medicaid budget request and the funds will be distributed as separate Recovery Act DSH grants.
See a complete list of the revised DSH allotments.
