Bill > S1821

Introduced Session

This bill revises the law concerning the payment of charity care to hospitals, to provide that, commencing in the fiscal year next following the effective date of the bill, the required ranking of hospitals located in the 10 municipalities in the State with the lowest median annual household income according to the most recent census data, from the hospital with the highest hospital-specific reimbursed documented charity care to the hospital with the lowest hospital-specific reimbursed documented charity care, shall only apply to municipalities with a population of at least 20,000 residents. Current law does not limit the ranking to cities with a certain population. The bill provides that the top two hospitals in each of these 10 municipalities, if any, with the highest documented hospital-specific charity care shall receive a charity care payment equal to 96 percent of their hospital-specific reimbursed documented charity care. Current law limits the charity care payment to the top hospital, if any, in each of the 10 municipalities. This bill is not intended to interfere with language in the annual appropriations act that supersedes the statutory formula in order to contain overall program costs.

AI Summary

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Teresa Ruiz (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 02/24/2020)

Official Document