WSHA recently sent to CEOs, CFOs, and Government Affairs staff of member hospitals summaries of assessments and payments under the Hospital Safety Net Assessment program for state fiscal year 2018, and projections of assessments and estimated payments for state fiscal year 2019. No significant changes are expected for the SFY 2019 program.
The Hospital Safety Net Assessment program was originally passed during the 2010 legislative session to partially offset previous cuts to hospital Medicaid payments. Under the program, assessments collected by the Health Care Authority from hospitals augment state funds to obtain enhanced federal match for Medicaid services, providing payments for hospital Medicaid services and budget savings for the state. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)