Earlier this month, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission publicly discussed a proposal to establish a new supplemental Medicare payment:  a new “safety-net hospital index payment” for “Medicare safety-net hospitals” that meet new criteria.

While supporting MedPAC’s underlying concept, the Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals has asked the commission to consider changes in how it would identify such hospitals and how it would finance these new payments.  It also has asked MedPAC to make a special point of identifying hospitals that should be held harmless from the loss of the supplemental Medicare payments – Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) and Medicare uncompensated care – that would be used to finance the new payments.  The foundation for ASH’s suggestions is its own “Proposal to Advance Health Equity.”

Learn more from ASH’s letter to MedPAC, which includes a description of ASH’s proposed health equity payment.