Ohio hospitals seeing benefits from ACA, but concerns remain

The Obama administration is touting new data it says shows the ACA has improved hospitals’ bottom line, but there are still aspects of the law that have hospital officals concerned (Source: "Obamacare is helping Ohio hospitals, but several factors have yet to play out,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sept. 25, 2014).

Last week the Department of Health and Human Services released a report showing that hospitals’ uncompensating care dropped $5.7 billion this year because of coverage expansion through the ACA.

However, hospital officials remained concerned about other aspects of the law, including a provision to cut and reallocate funds that many high-volume or safety net hospitals get for treating patients on Medicare and  a planned cut to DSH payments to hospitals under the Medicaid program.