The state legislature’s Joint Budget Committee plans to inform federal officials that a plan to change Medicaid rules – at a cost to Colorado hospitals of $128 million – is a terrible idea.
The committee voted unanimously Monday to endorse a resolution opposing the rule change and to send a letter to the head of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services voicing opposition.
The only disagreement among committee members was over whether the letter as drafted was harsh enough.
The resolution next goes to the full Senate.
CMS administrators want to narrow the definition of a public hospital to include only those with taxing authority. Only hospitals that meet that definition could receive the funds from the Disproportionate Share Hospital program.
The disproportionate share program was created in 1981 to reimburse hospitals that care for large numbers of people who are poor or lack health insurance.
Denver Health, which provides the greatest amount of care to the uninsured in Colorado, estimated it would lose $65 million a year, or 16 percent of its operating budget, Dr. Patricia Gabow, chief executive, told the committee.
Congress has rejected similar proposals by the Bush White House several times, Gabow said.
Lawyers and public hospital officials now question whether CMS administrators have the authority to enact the rule change, she said.
If Congress does not act to stop it, the rule change will take effect in September.
