| Advocacy |
| Subcommittee Hearing
Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that attended the hearing held at Spectrum Health on Monday, May 4, include:
- Representatives McDowell (Chair), Gregory, Green and Lori.
- Representative Hildebrand joined the hearing although he is not on the subcommittee.
Mary Kay gave testimony regarding the DSH funds which included these points:
- We all recognize the struggle that Michigan's economy is in.
- No region of the state has been saved from the loss of jobs and loss of health care coverage by Michigan employees.
- The loss of health care coverage and the increase in Medicaid enrollees magnifies our burden with the Medicaid reimbursement. Any large health care system is now experiencing a disproportionate share of Medicaid recipients in their hospitals.
- While the loss of jobs is felt equally across the state, Medicaid covered lives are not treated equally. VHP members feel strongly that a Medicaid life in Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo or Petoskey should be valued the same as a Medicaid life in Detroit.
- This is not the case, however. The disproportionate share fund has been unequally weighted to favor southeast Michigan.
- This has left large health systems with high Medicaid caseloads to struggle with the additional weight of providing high quality care, but without the equitable reimbursement.
- The legislature is facing tough choices and now would be the time to look at Value, especially for those systems that keep their costs down and provide great care for the community.
- Now is the time for the state to get Value for each and every dollar the state spends on Medicaid.
- We urge the Legislature to provide a more equitable distribution of DSH funds.
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