Safety-Net Hospitals Face Cuts in Democrats’ Bill, GOP Warns

Republican lawmakers took aim at a Democratic proposal to expand Medicaid in a dozen holdout states Thursday, saying it means deep cuts for safety-net hospitals.

At issue are proposed cuts in disproportionate share hospital payments, also known as DSH payments. The funds support hospitals that provide a large amount of care to Medicaid patients and the uninsured, for which they receive no payment or less than the full cost of the services provided.

The cuts are part of a sweeping domestic spending package (H.R. 5376) that would subsidize health insurance for lower-income people in states that haven’t expanded ...