The new state budget passed in Harrisburg last weekend restored cuts to key payments to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals.
Although the budget proposed by Governor Corbett in February called for a four percent cut in fee-for-service hospital base rate payments, that cut was restored – as were mid-year cuts to OB/NICU, burn center, and trauma center payments, which were restored to their FY 2012 enacted levels.
In addition, the budget increased payments to critical access hospitals and restored payments to academic medical centers and physician practice plans.
The budget also restored funding for separate fee-for-service payments for normal newborn care, thereby rescinding at least for FY 2013 an expedited regulation promulgated by the Department of Public Welfare that would have eliminated payments for such services.
For further information about Pennsylvania’s FY 2013 Medical Assistance budget and its implications for Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals, please contact Michael Chirieleison, SNAP’s president, at 717-234-6970 or mike@debrunner.us.