In the news
Time to pass hospital assessment
Guest editorial:
Business Journal of Milwaukee, April 18, 2008
Wisconsin ranks among the lowest in the nation in terms of payments to hospitals for treating Medicaid patients, which ends up increasing everyone's health care costs. Increasing the amount of money Wisconsin gets back from the federal government for Medicaid will help address this problem.
In his 2007-2009 budget plan, Gov. Jim Doyle proposed an assessment on hospitals as a way to capture additional federal dollars for Medicaid. The proposal followed the lead of more than 20 other states that successfully maximize their federal funding for Medicaid. The revenue generated by an assessment on hospitals allows states to bring in additional federal matching funds.
Wisconsin ranks 49th in the country in Medicaid payments to hospitals, reimbursing only about 48 cents of every $1 hospitals spend caring for Medicaid patients. As a result, more than $600 million in unpaid costs is shifted to everyone else. At the same time, Wisconsin is in the bottom half of states when it comes to getting back federal tax dollars.
Wisconsin ranks 39th in the amount of federal dollars returned to the state. The hospital assessment will bring back more of the tax dollars we already send to Washington and help reduce health care costs at the same time.
Ads, which are being run by Wisconsin Hospitals Issues Advocacy Council Inc., point out that by assessing hospitals, the state would get back an additional $410 million in federal funding, which would help alleviate the costs of providing health care to Wisconsin children and eliminate the shifting of unpaid Medicaid costs onto consumers and businesses.
Hospitals, business groups, a bipartisan majority of legislators support the proposal.
Steve Brenton, Wisconsin Hospital Association, Madison