News: CMS underpaid hospitals by $76.8 billion in 2017, AHA reports

Medicare and Medicaid underpaid hospitals by $76.8 billion in 2017, according to the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) annual hospital survey. Medicare underpayments in 2017 totaled $53.9 billion and Medicare underpayments totaled $29.9 billion. Additionally, hospitals provided $38.4 billion in uncompensated care in 2017, HealthLeaders Media reported.

While hospitals aren’t required to participate in Medicare or Medicaid, they must if they want to maintain their not-for-profit, tax-exempt status. And, Medicare and Medicaid programs account for more than 60% of all care provided by hospitals, so few hospitals can choose not to participate, according to HealthLeaders Media.

The AHA survey also found that hospitals were paid 87 cents for every dollar spent caring for Medicare patients in 2017. In 2017, 66% of hospitals received Medicare payments less than cost, and 62% of hospitals received Medicaid payments less than cost.

Despite the underpayments, hospitals continued to invest in community programs, according to the survey. The survey found that 84% of hospitals are investing in community health education, 79% offer a nutrition program, and 54% provide smoking cessation programs, FierceHealthcare reported.

Editor’s note: To read the study from the AHA, click here. To read HealthLeaders Media’s coverage of this story, click here. To read FierceHealthcare’s coverage, click here.