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Three hundred two members of the House of Representatives yesterday urged House leadership to delay for at least two years the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts scheduled to take effect Oct. 1.
 
"Should Congress fail to delay the cuts scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, safety net hospitals will face a financial shortfall of $4 billion in FY 2020," they note in a letter to House leaders. "These cuts will grow to $8 billion in FY 2021. Our nation's hospitals cannot sustain losses of this magnitude. Institutions will be forced to shutter, leaving our constituents and communities without a vital safeguard." The bipartisan letter was led by Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Pete Olson, R-Texas.
 
The AHA and seven other national hospital organizations earlier this year urged Congress to delay the Medicaid DSH cuts.
 
“The Medicaid DSH program has been critical in supporting hospitals that care for our nation’s most vulnerable members of society, including children, the disabled and the elderly,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “The AHA is committed to working with Congress to continue to stop the harmful Medicaid DSH cuts that could threaten local access to care. We thank Representatives Engel and Olson for leading this strong, bipartisan effort to postpone the cuts for at least an additional two years.”