The AAMC joined the American Hospital Association, America’s Essential Hospitals, and other organizations representing hospitals and health systems in a Sept. 5 letter to congressional leadership urging action to prevent pending cuts to the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program (PDF).
The letter urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to address $8 billion in scheduled reductions to the Medicaid DSH program, due to take effect Oct. 1. The groups highlighted the growing financial challenges facing hospitals — including Medicaid cuts enacted in the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21, PDF) — and emphasized “Medicaid DSH funds will be an increasingly vital resource to ensure DSH hospitals can continue to provide essential services to their communities.”
Congress has repeatedly acted to prevent scheduled cuts to the Medicaid DSH program from taking effect. Originally scheduled for fiscal years 2014 through 2020, these cuts have been legislatively delayed several times since their original enactment via the Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148, PDF). Most recently, Congress acted to delay these cuts until Sept. 30 as part of a larging continuing resolution [refer to Washington Highlights, March 14].