New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter 311 - HOSPITAL SERVICES
Part 3 - METHODS AND STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING PAYMENT - INPATIENT HOSPITAL SERVICES
Section 8.311.3.13 - DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE HOSPITALS

Universal Citation: 8 NM Admin Code 8.311.3.13

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024

To take into account the situation of hospitals serving a disproportionate number of low-income patients with special needs, a payment will be made to qualifying hospitals.

A. Criteria for deeming hospitals eligible for a disproportionate share payment:

(1) Determination of each hospital's eligibility for a disproportionate share payment for the MAD inpatient utilization rate as listed below, will be done annually by the department's audit agent, based on the hospital's most recently filed cost report. Hospitals which believe they qualify under the low income utilization rate must submit documentation justifying their qualification. This documentation should be submitted to the department by March 31 of each year.

(2) In the case of a DRG hospital with a PPS exempt specialty unit, data from the entire facility will be considered to determine DSH status.

(3) The following criteria must be met before a hospital is deemed to be eligible:
(a) Minimum criteria: The hospital must have:
(i) a MAD inpatient utilization rate greater than the mean MAD inpatient utilization rate for hospitals receiving MAD payments in the state; or

(ii) a low-income utilization rate exceeding twenty-five percent; (refer to Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of 8.311.3.13 NMAC for definitions of these criteria).

(iii) The hospital must have at least two obstetricians with staff privileges at the hospital who have agreed to provide obstetric services to eligible recipients entitled to such services under MAD; in the case of a hospital located in a rural area (defined as an area outside of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), as defined by the United States executive office of management and budget), the term "obstetrician" includes any physician with staff privileges at the hospital to perform non-emergency obstetric procedures.

(iv) Item (iii) of Subparagraph (a) of Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of 8.311.3.13 NMAC does not apply to a hospital which meets the following criteria: the inpatients are predominantly individuals under 18 years of age; or the hospital did not offer non-emergency obstetric services as of December 22, 1987;

(v) the hospital must have, at a minimum, a MAD inpatient utilization rate (MUR) of one percent.

(b) Definitions of criteria:
(i) MAD inpatient utilization: For a hospital, the total number of its MAD inpatient days in a cost reporting period, divided by the total number of the hospital's inpatient days in the same period. These include both MAD managed care and non-managed care MAD inpatient days.

(ii) Low-income utilization rate: For a hospital, the sum (expressed as a percentage) of the following fractions: the sum of total MAD inpatient and outpatient net revenues (this includes MAD managed care and non-managed care revenues) paid to the hospital, plus the amount of the cash subsidies received directly from state and local governments in a cost reporting period, divided by the total amount of net revenues of the hospital for inpatient and outpatient services (including the amount of such cash subsidies) in the same cost reporting period; and the total amount of the hospital's charges for inpatient hospital services attributable to charity care (care provided to individuals who have no source of payment, third-party or personal resources) in a cost reporting period, less the amount of the cash subsidies received directly from the state and local governments in that period reasonably attributable to inpatient hospital services, divided by the total amount of the hospital's charges for inpatient services in the hospital in the same period. If this number is zero or less than zero, then it is assumed to be zero. The total inpatient charges attributed to charity care shall not include contractual allowances and discounts (other than for indigent patients not eligible for medical assistance under an approved MAD state plan), that is, reductions in charges given to other third-party payers, such as HMOs, medicare, or Blue Cross.

(iii) The medicaid utilization rate (MUR) is computed as follows:

MUR % = 100 x M/T

M = hospital's number of inpatient days attributable to eligible recipients under the MAD state plan; these include MAD managed care and non-managed care days

T = hospital's total inpatient days.

(iv) Newborn days, days in specialized wards, and administratively necessary days are included in this calculation. Additionally, days attributable to individuals eligible for medicaid in another state are included. MAD inpatient days includes both MAD managed care and non-managed care patient days.

(v) The numerator (M) does not include days attributable to recipients 21 or older in institutions for mental disease (IMD) as these patients are not eligible for MAD coverage in IMDs under the New Mexico state plan and cannot be considered a MAD day.

B. Inpatient disproportionate share pools: Section 1923 of the Social Security Act allows qualifying hospitals to receive a disproportionate share payment, in addition to their allowable regular claims payments and any other payments to which they are entitled. This determination is performed annually as described in Subsection A of 8.311.3.13 NMAC. Qualifying hospitals will be classified into one of three disproportionate share hospital pools: Teaching PPS hospitals, non-teaching PPS hospitals, and PPS-exempt (TEFRA) hospitals. Hospitals may also qualify for a payment from a fourth pool: reserve pool, as explained in this Subsection C of 8.311.3.13 NMAC below.

(1) To qualify as a teaching hospital and be eligible for the teaching hospital DSH payment, the hospital must:
(a) be licensed by the state of New Mexico; and

(b) reimbursed, or be eligible to be reimbursed, under the DRG basis under the plan; and

(c) have 125 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) residents enrolled in approved teaching programs.

(2) A non-teaching PPS (DRG) hospital qualifies if it is an in-state acute care hospital reimbursed by or eligible to be reimbursed by prospective payment methodology.

(3) A PPS-exempt hospital (TEFRA) such as rehabilitation hospitals, children's hospitals, or free-standing psychiatric hospitals, qualify if it is reimbursed by or eligible to be reimbursed by TEFRA methodology as described in 8.311.3.11 NMAC.

(4) The reserve pool is to compensate DSH qualifying hospitals which have had a disproportionate shift in the delivery of services between low-income and MAD-covered inpatient days in any given quarter. A hospital will qualify for payment from the reserve pool if its charity ratio, as described in Item (ii) of Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of 8.311.3.13 NMAC, exceeds twenty percent. A qualifying hospital may receive a payment from the reserve pool in addition to its payment from one of the three other pools.

C. Disproportionate share hospital payments:

(1) DSH payments are subject to available state and federal funding, as determined by the department.

(2) If DSH funds are available, they shall be allocated to each pool and paid to qualifying hospitals based on the number of MAD discharges. These include both MAD managed care and non-managed care discharges. A discharge occurs when a patient dies in the hospital, is formally released from the hospital, or is transferred to another hospital or nursing home.

(3) Payments are made quarterly, with the annual amount for the pool divided into four parts, and each part distributed after the end of each quarter based on MAD discharges during that quarter. The quarterly payment to each hospital qualifying for DSH pools one, two, or three will be computed by dividing the number of MAD discharges for that hospital by the total number of MAD discharges from all hospitals qualifying for that DSH pool and then multiplying this pro-rata share by the quarterly allocation for the respective pool. This amount cannot exceed the OBRA 93 DSH limit, which is described in Subsections E and F of 8.311.3.13 NMAC.

(4) MAD will review the allocation of DSH funds prior to the start of each state fiscal year and may re-allocate funds between pools at that time in consideration of shifts in the hospital utilization of MAD and low-income/indigent care patients.

(5) The percentages allocated to each pool for state fiscal year 1998 are as listed below. The total allocations shall be adjusted in subsequent state fiscal years based on the medicare prospective payment update factor (MPPUF) or the DSH budget as defined by the department. The base year DSH budget for state fiscal year 1998 is $22,000,000.00.
(a) The teaching PPS hospital DSH pool is fifty-six percent of the overall DSH budget, as defined by HSD.

(b) The non-teaching PPS (DRG) hospital DSH pool is twenty two and a half percent of the overall DSH budget, as defined by HSD.

(c) The PPS-exempt hospital (TEFRA) DSH pool is one and a half percent of the overall DSH budget, as defined by HSD.

(d) The reserve DSH pool is twenty percent of the overall DSH budget, as defined by HSD. Quarterly payments may be made directly from the reserve pool to hospitals qualifying for any of the other three DSH pools at the rate of N dollars per MAD discharge, where N is equal to the fraction described in Item (ii) of Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of 8.311.3.13 NMAC minus twenty percent, multiplied by $1,750.

D. Request for DSH payment procedures: Hospitals must submit to the department the number of MAD discharges (both managed care and fee for service discharges), which they have incurred 30 calendar days after the end of each quarter. The department will review the hospital's documentation supporting their discharge information. Any requests received later than 60 calendar days from the end of the quarter will be denied as untimely.

E. DSH limits:

(1) Pursuant to section 1923 (g) of the Social Security Act, a limit is placed on the payment adjustment for any hospital. A hospital's payment adjustment determined in Subsections B through D of 8.311.3.13 NMAC shall not exceed that hospital's hospital-specific DSH limit, as determined under Subsection E of 8.311.3.13 NMAC. This limit is calculated as follows:

DSH limit = M + U

M = Cost of services to eligible recipients, less the amount paid by the MAD program under the non-DSH payment provisions of this plan

U = Cost of services to uninsured patients, less any cash payments made by them.

(2) The cost of services will include both inpatient and outpatient costs for purposes of calculating the limit. The "costs of services" are defined as those costs determined allowable under this plan. "Uninsured patients" are defined as those patients who do not possess health insurance or do not have a source of third-party payment for services provided, including individuals who do not possess health insurance which would apply to the service for which the individual sought treatment. Payments made to a hospital for services provided to indigent patients made by the state or a unit of local government within the state shall not be considered to be a source of third-party payment.

(3) Recovery of Overpayments: The department has one year from the date of discovery of an overpayment to a provider to recover or seek to recover the overpayment before the federal share must be refunded to CMS in accordance with 42 CFR 433.312. Upon DSH reconciliation, the audit agent or the department will notify the provider in writing of an overpayment and will specify the dollar amount that is subject to recovery. The provider has 90 calendar days from the date of notification to submit the payment in full unless otherwise directed by the department.

F. Limitations in New Mexico DSH allotment: If the DSH payment amounts as described in Subsections C through E of 8.311.3.13 NMAC above, exceed in any given year, the federal determined DSH allotment for New Mexico, the DSH allocations by pool will be reduced proportionately to a level in compliance with the New Mexico DSH allotment.

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