CMS will not enforce Medicaid DSH policy while it appeals court ruling

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last week withdrew a 2010 policy, known as FAQs 33 and 34, that included private insurance and Medicare payments when calculating the Medicaid shortfall component of the hospital-specific limit on disproportionate share hospital payments. FAQs 33 and 34 “are no longer operative, and CMS will accept revised DSH audits that cover hospitals services furnished before June 2, 2017,” the agency said. CMS is appealing a federal court decision that barred it from enforcing the FAQs and a 2017 final rule incorporating the policy. “CMS will not be enforcing the 2017 rule … as long as the [court] decision remains operative in its current form,” the agency said.