NYAPRS Note: DOH announced its first awards yesterday for the release of some 1115 waiver dollars through the Interim Access Assurance Fund. Hospitals that receive these funds will be monitored closely to ensure they are actively forming adequate DSRIP networks to progress the goals of reducing hospitalizations and making meaningful community connections for better care.
State Announces $100M for Brooklyn in First Waiver Awards
Capital New York; By Dan Goldberg, 7/8/2014
Struggling Brooklyn hospitals will receive more than $100 million in federal funding as part of a recently approved $8 billion Medicaid waiver, state officials announced on Tuesday.
Governor Andrew Cuomo repeatedly cited the crisis in Brooklyn hospitals as he urged the federal government to approve the waiver, and the first set of awards from the Interim Access Assurance Fund (IAAF) represent a sizable commitment to the borough.
The IAAF is a $500 million pot of money the state set aside for safety-net hospitals that need a quick infusion of capital. Of that, $250 million was for private safety-net hospitals, and $250 million was set aside for the state’s five public health systems.
The awards function as a bridge loan for struggling hospitals as they work with other providers to develop proposals aimed at reducing inpatient admissions by 25 percent over the next five years.
Capital had reported earlier today that H.H.C. received $152.5 million and SUNY received almost $44 million. Erie County Medical Center received $8.5 million, Westchester received $8 million, and Nassau University Medical Center received $37 million.
The state’s health department also awarded $212 million to 22 private safety-net hospitals around the state.
Safety-net hospitals, for the purposes of the waiver, were defined as those that are already recognized by the federal government as a Critical Access Hospital or Sole Community Provider Hospital, or those whose patient populations are made up of a large percentage of Medicaid and uninsured.
The idea was the Medicaid waiver money should go to hospitals that serve a Medicaid population.
More than half of the $212 million is going to three Brooklyn hospitals.
Brookdale Hospital, which Cuomo had warned could close without help from the Medicaid waiver, will receive $53 million.
Interfaith, which just emerged from bankruptcy, will receive about $37 million, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center was awarded $22.5 million.
Outside the city, Carthage Area Hospital was awarded $10 million. The Jefferson County hospital was forced to slash its workforce by 20 percent earlier this year, according to the Watertown Daily Times.
About $38 million was left on the table because the private safety net hospitals that applied did not meet the criteria the state had required.
That money is available through March 2015 and can be used by the state should any safety-net hospital find itself in financial trouble.
A full list of the awards can be found here: http://bit.ly/1qgzU7r