TN hospitals get $131M in DSH funds

After years of going it on its own, Tennessee has gotten back its share of Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, at least for fiscal 2007. The state will get $131 million, which will be distributed to hospitals that treat a particularly high percentage of poor and uninsured patients. The state had given up these funds in the early 90s when it created its expanded Medicaid program, TennCare. However, since the state cut back TennCare, it has been lobbying to get the funds back. Eventually, the state's hospitals could receive $430 million per year if payments are restored in full. This could be a significant success for the state's hospitals, two out of five of which are losing money. The Tennessee Hospital Association has said that nearly all of the money-losing facilities could catch up if DSH payments go back to original levels.

For more information on the bill:
- read this article in The Tennessean

Related Article:
New Jersey hospital must repay feds for miscalculated DSH payments. Report