State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Washington > Title-74 > 74-60 > 74-60-005Purpose — Findings — Intent. (Expires July 1, 2013.)
(1) The purpose of this chapter is to provide for a safety net assessment on certain Washington hospitals, which will be used solely to augment funding from all other sources and thereby obtain additional funds to restore recent reductions and to support additional payments to hospitals for medicaid services.
(2) The legislature finds that:
(a) Washington hospitals, working with the department of social and health services, have proposed a hospital safety net assessment to generate additional state and federal funding for the medicaid program, which will be used to partially restore recent inpatient and outpatient reductions in hospital reimbursement rates and provide for an increase in hospital payments; and
(b) The hospital safety net assessment and hospital safety net assessment fund created in this chapter allows the state to generate additional federal financial participation for the medicaid program and provides for increased reimbursement to hospitals.
(3) In adopting this chapter, it is the intent of the legislature:
(a) To impose a hospital safety net assessment to be used solely for the purposes specified in this chapter;
(b) That funds generated by the assessment shall be used solely to augment all other funding sources and not as a substitute for any other funds;
(c) That the total amount assessed not exceed the amount needed, in combination with all other available funds, to support the reimbursement rates and other payments authorized by this chapter; and
(d) To condition the assessment on receiving federal approval for receipt of additional federal financial participation and on continuation of other funding sufficient to maintain hospital inpatient and outpatient reimbursement rates and small rural disproportionate share payments at least at the levels in effect on July 1, 2009.
[2010 1st sp.s. c 30 § 1.]
