Study Finds Safety-Net Hospitals with High Uncompensated Care Rates in Disadvantaged Areas Have Lower Margins

A recently published study in Health Affairs finds that safety-net hospitals’ margins are lower in disadvantaged areas or when they have high rates of uncompensated care. The Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program was designed to compensate hospitals who treat underserved communities, but state-level policies can cause disparities in payments to different health centers.

According to Jacqueline LaPointe, “Researchers from Boston Children’s explained in the study that there is significant variation in determining how hospitals receive Medicaid DSH payments. A recent study in Health Affairs also found that almost a third of Medicaid DSH payments were allocated to hospitals that did not meet a given definition of a DSH facility, and a small percentage went to hospitals that met none of the DSH definitions.”

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(Source: Revcycle Intelligence, April 24^th, 2023)