Congress must act before the end of the calendar year to avert looming cuts to Medicare and Medicaid payments to essential hospitals.
The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) is far from over. Essential hospitals continue to experience increased costs and fewer resources, including staffing, directly due to the ongoing pandemic. Our hospitals’ commitment to providing high-quality care to all—regardless of a patient’s ability to pay—and improving health equity remains firm. To ensure essential hospitals can continue to carry out their mission to serve people who face social and financial barriers to care, Congress must address essential hospital priorities, including:
- extending the 2 percent Medicare sequester moratorium through the end of the COVID-19 PHE;
- passing legislation to waive the 4 percent Statutory Pay As You Go Act cuts;
- providing a technical fix to stop the unintended cuts to Medicaid payments as a result of the altered definition of Medicaid shortfall in Section 203 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021; and
- providing additional support for workforce development programs.
