Whereas, it is imperative to improve the Medicare payments to critical access hospitals; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §1714-B is enacted to read:

§1714-B.__Critical access hospital inpatient services

MaineCare shall reimburse for 101% of the total MaineCare inpatient operating costs from the most recent cost report filed by the hospital, inflated forward to the current state fiscal year.__One million dollars, the state share of which is provided by the hospital tax revenue, must be reallocated annually among the critical access hospitals based on their relative proportion of MaineCare services as compared to other critical access hospitals.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to use a current critical access hospital cost report as the basis for determining MaineCare reimbursement rates and restores the full staff enhancement payment for critical access hospitals.