Congress should phase in planned reductions to Medicaid Disproportionate Share payments to hospitals over a longer period of time and restructure the DSH allotment methodology based on the number of low-income individuals in a state, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) said on Thursday.
In a 16-1 vote, MACPAC opted to recommend that if Congress chooses to proceed with DHS allotment reductions in current law, it should change the schedule of reductions to $2 billion in fiscal 2020, $4 billion in fiscal 2021, $6 billion in fiscal 2022 and $8 billion a year in the years fiscal 2023 through fiscal 2029 in order to phase in reductions more gradually without increasing federal spending.
