NAUH has asked the House Ways and Means Committee to delay cuts in Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicare DSH).

In written testimony submitted to the committee as part of a public hearing on hospital-related Medicare issues, NAUH told the committee that Affordable Care Act-mandated cuts in Medicare DSH payments should be delayed

…to ensure that Americans have appropriate access to health care if and when they need it and to ensure that the fabric of the American health care safety net does not fray beyond repair.

NAUH LogoNAUH also told the committee that

… moving forward with the proposed cuts in the Medicare DSH program could hinder access to care for those who need it most – including residents of the predominantly low-income communities served by the nation’s private, non-profit urban safety-net hospitals. In hurting the hospitals that serve these patients, moreover, Medicare DSH cuts also could hurt the other patients these same hospitals serve – those covered by private insurance and those covered by Medicare.

Read NAUH’s complete testimony here.