Cohen Hails Passage of Compromise Bill Securing Half Billion Dollars for Tennessee Hospitals

[WASHINGTON, DC] – The U.S. Senate late last night passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, which includes a compromise negotiated by Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Congressman Diane Black (TN-06) that will guarantee disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments totaling more than $530 million over the next 10 years to help the state’s hospitals and community health centers recoup expenses incurred caring for those who cannot afford to pay. Tennessee is the only state in the nation that does not receive these automatic DSH allotments, which ended with the creation of TennCare. Along with last month’s House passage, today’s vote in the Senate sends the legislation to the President Obama’s desk for his signature.

“Tennessee hospitals deserve the same level of certainty about their DSH payments that hospitals throughout America have, and this agreement will provide that certainty,” said Congressman Cohen. “Senator Alexander asked me to get involved and to find a compromise that would bring Democratic leaders and Republican leaders together. I am pleased to get both Democrats and Republicans to agree on this 10-year extension and to have led the delegation in securing half a billion dollars for Tennessee hospitals. These payments will help keep some hospitals in the state open and will save Shelby County taxpayers money as the DSH funds received by Regional One would otherwise be their responsibility.”

In recent years, the Tennessee Congressional Delegation had to seek waivers to secure annual DSH payments. As a result of Congressman Cohen’s work and his collaboration with the other members of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation, Tennessee’s hospitals will receive $53.1 million in DSH payments annually and are guaranteed the funding stream for the next decade. Regional One Health (formerly The MED) and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis will benefit significantly from the newfound certainty and the funding of this new DSH payment schedule and Shelby County residents can rest easy knowing that the future of emergency, life-saving services provided there will no longer be in jeopardy due to erratic funding shortfalls.