The Legislative Budget Commission on Tuesday approved two requests from the Agency for Health Care Administration to give it budget authority to spend more than $10 billion in federal grants for its Medicaid program.
One grant for nearly $8 billion is for the directed payment program (DPP) for hospitals providing care to Medicaid patients. The payments are made directly to eligible hospitals to cover the difference between their cost of providing care and the payments they receive.
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Last week AHCA received approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the DPP funds. AHCA, though, must submit attestations from eligible hospitals testifying that they do not have any "hold harmless" agreements with providers, where each party agrees not to hold the other liable for damages or costs.
The panel also approved $2.17 billion in new budget authority for federal grants for the Low Income Pool, a pot of Medicaid money given to hospitals for the uncompensated care they provide to low-income patients who can't pay for their care.
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