January 2009

Moving Toward Uniform, Reliable and Transparent Data Measuring Residual Unreimbursed Uncompensated Care Costs

These are findings of the Senate Bill 10 Work Group. The work group considered the claim that provision of care to individuals participating in government sponsored health programs such as Medicaid or Medicare should count as uncompensated care. It recommended that to standardize calculation and reporting of uncompensated care, the basis for uniformly converting charges to costs should be based on the DSH and trauma programs all-payer ratio. Reporting of uncompensated care must clarify the extent that charges for the same care may be submitted more than once for reimbursement. In addition, hospitals must be provided feedback on their reported data.