Working with WSHA, the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) has agreed to increase inpatient Medicaid rates for the next quarter by about 18 percent in order to restore cutting rates during the last two quarters. Hospitals should have started receiving notices of the change Jan. 14 or 15 informing them of change, which takes effect Feb. 1.
In November, the HCA made an 8 percent reduction in inpatient Medicaid rates for prospective payment hospitals, and WSHA questioned the validity of the change. The HCA discovered it had made an error in its calculations, and the coming rate increase for the quarter both corrects the error and makes up for the previous cuts. The correction will provide hospitals with roughly $60 million in Medicaid payments they would not have otherwise received.
