Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers weigh changing statute to allow broader use of hospital assessment dollars
Summary
LB945 would replace "or" with "and" in the hospital assessment allocation language so funds can support hospitals, children's continuous Medicaid eligibility and the state health information exchange. Providers backed the bill for predictability; DHHS warned funds are already obligated and a change could shift costs to the general fund.
Sen. Myron Dorn introduced LB945 to clarify legislative intent on how the state's newly available hospital assessment funds may be allocated. The change would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to use the pool for all three enumerated priorities in statute—hospital payments, continuous eligibility for children, and the designated state health information exchange—rather than treating them as mutually exclusive.
Proponents, including the Nebraska Association of Behavioral Health Organizations and hospital leaders, said the narrow reading deployed by DHHS after last year's appropriation left providers expecting funding support without receiving it. They urged the committee to restore predictability so providers could plan staffing and services.
DHHS Director Drew Gonshorowski opposed the bill and explained the division had already obligated the available fund balance to children's continuous eligibility; he warned that requiring payments to all allowable categories would partially defund existing obligations and shift costs onto the general fund.
Committee discussion focused on the fund's current obligations, the department's fiscal note, and whether statutory language should grant more legislative control over future allocations. No final action was taken at the hearing.
