AHA, FAH digital ads urge Congress to protect patients and not cut hospitals

The AHA and Federation of American Hospitals this week are running digital ads in Politico urging Congress to “Protect Patients: Don’t cut hospitals serving our most vulnerable.” The AHA has been urging congressional leaders to remove reductions to the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital program and uncompensated care pools from the social spending bill known as the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376). States that have yet to expand their Medicaid program face reductions in federal Medicaid DSH allotments and federal funding for uncompensated care pools. The AHA estimates that the Medicaid DSH cuts would be $4.7 billion over 10 years (2023-2032).

“While we appreciate the goal of increasing coverage to residents in states that did not expand their Medicaid programs through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it should not come at the expense of vital funding to facilities located in those parts of the country, especially at a time when hospitals are still providing care due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the deadly Delta variant,” the AHA, FAH and other organizations wrote recently to congressional leaders.