County hears proposal to join regional hospital participation fund to draw Medicaid matching dollars

Presenters asked Brown County Commissioners to consider creating or joining a multi-jurisdictional local provider participation fund so Peterson Hospital and partner hospitals can access federal Medicaid matching funds without adding a county tax. The proposal would let participating hospitals be assessed a fee (presenters said up to 6% of patient revenue), which the district would remit to the state and receive federal matching dollars in return; those federal funds would flow back to hospitals.

Supporters said the structure avoids any direct use of county tax dollars and imposes administrative costs that can be paid from the fee revenue; the statute cited in the presentation allows an administrative allowance (presenter…