As urged by the AHA, Medicaid DSH cuts scrapped in Senate update to Build Back Better Act

The Senate Finance Committee this weekend released parts of its updated legislative text for the $1.7 trillion Build Back Better Act, and, as urged by the AHA, the bill does not contain Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital cuts that were included the House-passed version of the bill. States that have yet to expand their Medicaid program faced reductions in federal Medicaid DSH allotments and federal funding for uncompensated care pools in the bill approved by the House Nov. 19. The AHA estimates that the Medicaid DSH cuts would be $4.7 billion over 10 years (2023-2032). The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this weekend also released updated text for its portion of the Build Back Better Act.
 
As negotiations on the Build Back Better Act continue in the Senate, the AHA continues to advocate for the elimination of reductions in federal funding for uncompensated care pools; removal of excessive and unwarranted civil monetary penalties for various violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and National Labor Relations Act, provisions originally included as part of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act; and restoration of hospital infrastructure funding under the Hill-Burton Act.