SC will reduce special payments for 18 hospitals

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina will reduce the amount of money it pays to about a third of the state’s hospitals as compensation for treating uninsured and indigent patients.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports (http://bit.ly/vP1JAI ) that the state will reduce the payments by nearly $9 million to the 18 hospitals, which last year got about $110 million from the program.

Tony Keck, the state’s Medicaid director, says it’s because the funding is intended for hospitals that provide a disproportionate amount of care to patients they lose money by treating.

Wendy Dukes is director of reimbursement for the Roper St. Francis Healthcare system, which stands to lose about $1.5 million. She says a handful of hospitals are being forced to bear the burden of South Carolina’s Medicaid funding shortfall.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com