WASHINGTON — Medicaid funding cuts scheduled to take effect this fall could cost U.S. hospitals $8 billion, and members of Western Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation have joined in a bipartisan effort to prevent them.
At issue is the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital program, which helps cover the cost of providing health care in communities with large numbers of residents on Medicaid or who don’t have insurance at all. Congress must act by the end of the current fiscal year, Sept. 30, to prevent reductions in the program.
“Hospitals that provide care in rural and historically underserved urban communities face unique financial challenges that threaten their sustainability,” said Nicole Stallings, president and CEO of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, an industry trade group. “Medicaid DSH payments are critical to preserving access to health care in many Pennsylvania communities.”
The proposed cuts would affect several Western Pennsylvania hospitals, including UPMC, Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, according to HAP.
Almost half of the U.S. Senate, led by Aging Committee chair Bob Casey, D-Pa., signed a bipartisan letter to Senate leaders urging them to take action to renew the subsidies. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., also was one of the signatories.
“Cuts of this magnitude could undermine the financial viability of hospitals, threatening access to care for the most vulnerable Americans,” the senators wrote. “It is essential that we continue to protect those who have come to rely on the services provided by Medicaid DSH hospitals. We ask you to act as soon as possible to address the Medicaid DSH cuts to ensure our nation’s hospitals can continue to care for every community.”
More than half of U.S. House members, including Reps. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, signed a similar letter to their chamber’s leaders.
Under the Affordable Care Act, federal payments were supposed to diminish over time as more Americans took advantage of the law’s subsidies to buy insurance. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 27.6 million people remained uninsured in 2022, and the federal government has acted over the years to continue the payments.
In other Washington news:
Reschenthaler announces Congressional Appalachian Caucus
There are 461 congressional caucuses — informal groupings of lawmakers around a common interest, from Access to Legal Aid to Zoos and Aquariums, according to a list compiled by Ballotpedia.
Now add No. 462 to the list.
Mr. Reschenthaler joined Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., in setting up the Congressional Appalachian Caucus to advocate for a region that covers 206,000 miles across 13 states and 26.3 million residents.
"This caucus will serve as a voice for the small towns in Appalachia who have been overlooked and left behind,” Mr. Reschenthaler said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to promote policies that will create jobs, strengthen families, protect senior citizens, and generate economic growth throughout the region."
Issues the caucus plans to focus on include domestic energy production, health care, transportation and broadband.
Both Mr. Reschenthaler and Ms. Miller voted against President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructe law, which includes money to build and repair roads and bridges and to expand high-speed internet service to areas without such connections.
Biden campaign launches digital ads supporting abortion rights
As part of its 16-week, $25 million advertising campaign in Pennsylvania and other battleground states, Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign has launched digital ads supporting abortion rights and contrasting his position with GOP calls for abortion bans.
The ad campaign followed last week’s Republican presidential debate, where Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the six-week ban he signed in his state and former Vice President Mike Pence endorsed a national ban.
“MAGA Republicans came to the debate stage and boasted about their support to strip women of the right to make their own health care decisions,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said. “This ad is the first of many that will hold all MAGA Republicans accountable for their extreme, losing positions throughout the cycle, while also highlighting the President’s support for women and their fundamental freedoms.”
In a May 2023 Gallup poll, 52% of U.S. adults described themselves as “pro-choice,” while 44% called themselves “pro-life.” And 52% said abortion was morally acceptable while 41% called it morally wrong.
But 49% said abortion should be legal in few cases or not at all, while 47% backed abortion rights in all or most cases.
Jonathan D. Salant: jsalant@post-gazette.com, @JDSalant; Benjamin Kail: bkail@post-gazette.com, @BenKail
First Published: August 31, 2023, 2:45 p.m.
Updated: September 1, 2023, 3:48 p.m.
