Coauthors outline directed-payment plan to draw federal Medicaid dollars for hospitals

Note: During the hearing Representative Biermann and Representative Nadeau co-presented House File 2057, a proposal to establish a hospital assessment and a directed payment program to draw additional federal Medicaid funds in order to increase reimbursements to hospitals.

Coauthor Representative Biermann described the purpose and scale of the bill: hospitals would fund a state share through a broad-based assessment on inpatient and outpatient hospital revenue; DHS would claim federal matching dollars and return directed Medicaid payments to hospitals through managed-care plans. “On average, for every 40¢ the hospital community puts in, they will receive 60¢ in additional federal dollars up to the allowable federal cap,” Biermann said, and…