Reflecting the Administration’s commitment to making health care accessible to the state’s most vulnerable residents, the New Jersey Department of Health today released the revised fiscal year 2017 hospital charity care funding distribution that preserves funding for safety net hospitals.
"Our safety net hospitals provide a tremendous service, particularly to residents most in need," said Governor Chris Christie. "This budget prioritizes safety net hospitals to ensure there is continued access to care for uninsured and underinsured New Jerseyans. These mission-driven organizations are vital to the communities they serve."
This revised funding formula benefits hospitals that provide the highest relative charity care percentages and those providing care in the lowest income communities—following the statutory formula—with $250.75 million in funding. The remainder of the charity care funding pool—$51.25 million—will be distributed to the rest of the hospitals.
The revised funding formula recognizes that even with the benefit of Medicaid expansion, safety net hospitals still care for a disproportionate number of uninsured and underinsured New Jersey residents and correspondingly smaller numbers of privately insured patients, making it critical for safety net hospitals to be prioritized in the distribution of charity care.
The proposed FY2017 hospital funding distribution for charity care can be found at:
http://www.nj.gov/health/documents/hospital_funding_pool_summary2017.pdf
