Orange County hospitals have learned from county officials that payments for inpatient services to the uninsured in the county’s MSI Program are currently projected at 17 percent of actual cost for the 2012-13 program year. This compares with 28 percent in the 2011-12 program year, and 53 percent in 2010-11.

Under the terms of the MSI Hospital-County Agreement, hospitals are allowed to be reimbursed up to the amount of actual cost. However, underfunding in the program coupled with spikes in enrollment (20,000 new enrollees from 2010-11 to 2012-13), and the federal government’s decision to shift payment for AIDS drugs to the program have decimated the program’s funding for hospital payments.

In recent years, the Orange County Board of Supervisors has approved budget augmentations for hospital payments promoted by HASC, but these have been virtually wiped out by the factors noted above. Last week, the county lost its lawsuit with the state over funding the state had taken back from the county in an effort to balance its own budget. The $140 million hit to the county budget as a result of this loss brings a multitude of challenges to the county, and is expected to impede hospitals’ requests for relief. Latest figures show hospitals subsidizing the program at a level of approximately $125 million this year.

Contact: Julie Puentes
(714) 663-0294, jpuentes@hasc.org