The Medical Assistance cut in fee-for-service inpatient payments for the care of normal newborns took effect on June 1.
According to the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), the payment reduction brings Pennsylvania into line with what other states’ Medicaid programs pay for such care.  According to hospital industry representatives, Pennsylvania hospitals still lose money on Medicaid deliveries and now will lose more.
This policy will be especially damaging to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals.  Although only one-third of the state’s acute-care hospitals, safety-net hospitals perform two-thirds of all Medicaid deliveries according to the March 2012 report “Pennsylvania’s Safety-Net Hospitals:  Vital Providers, Vital Employers” prepared by the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania.
Read more about the state’s new policies, how it will affect hospitals, and how hospitals are responding to it in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.