Hospitals Lose Challenge on Medicare Payments for Low Income

A federal court rejected a challenge by 200 acute care hospitals to the formula used in Medicare to compensate them for treating low-income patients.

The hospitals said the formula didn’t fully account for care provided to patients eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits, which is used by the Department of Health and Human Services as a proxy for care provided to low-income patients.

But the court granted summary judgment to the HHS, ruling that the formula was consistent with the statute and reasonable, and denying the hospitals’ claim for recalculation of their compensation for fiscal years 2006-2009.

Supplemental Security Income ...