Last Updated: Jan 30, 2025

The Department of Human Services (Department) is announcing its intent to allocate funds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-2025 to establish a new class of disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments to qualifying Medical Assistance (MA) enrolled acute care general hospitals to promote access to comprehensive inpatient services for MA eligible persons by assuring an adequate supply of healthcare professionals who have been trained in rural hospital settings.

Payments will be divided proportionately among qualified hospitals based on each hospital's fee-for-service (FFS) PA MA inpatient discharges to total FFS PA MA inpatient discharges for all qualifying hospitals as reported on the FY 2018-2019 MA-336 Medicaid Hospital Cost Report (available to the Department as of June 22, 2021).

Payment limitations are applicable, including those limitations that the Commonwealth may not exceed its aggregate annual DSH allotment and that no hospital may receive DSH payment in excess of its hospital-specific limit. The Department will not redistribute DSH payments made under this additional class of DSH payments to qualifying hospitals as a result of a qualifying hospital exceeding its hospital specific DSH limit.

For FY 2024-2025, the Department will allocate an annualized amount of $7.905 million in total funds for these DSH payments, upon approval by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

For more information, please review the January 18, 2025 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.