HB490 Alabama 2013 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Steve ClouseRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2013

Title

Hospitals, private hospital assessments for Medicaid funding, extend to fiscal year 2015, state owned and other public hospitals, intergovernmental transfer for Medicaid funding, Secs. 40-26B-70, 40-26B-71, 40-26B-73, 40-26B-77, 40-26B-78, 40-26B-80, 40-26B-82, 40-26B-84, 40-26B-88 am'd.; Sec. 40-26B-77.1 added

Summary

HB490 extends the private hospital assessment and Medicaid funding program into fiscal years 2014-2015 and requires state-owned and public hospitals to transfer funds to Medicaid to support inpatient/outpatient care and related payments.

What This Bill Does

HB490 extends the private hospital assessment and Medicaid funding program through fiscal years 2014 and 2015, with the base year changed to fiscal year 2011 and the assessment rate set at 5.50% for those years. It requires state-owned and public hospitals to make intergovernmental transfers to the Medicaid Agency to fund payments for inpatient and outpatient care and to support uncompensated care and disproportionate share payments through certified public expenditures. It creates the Hospital Assessment Account to hold these funds separately from the General Fund and outlines how balances are kept, rolled forward, or refunded if federal matching funds are limited or the program ends. It preserves the payment structure where inpatient and outpatient payments and access payments are determined by the upper payment limit and paid quarterly, subject to federal participation and CMS plan approvals.

Who It Affects

• Privately operated hospitals would pay the 5.50% assessment of net patient revenue for 2014-2015 (based on 2011 data) and participate in the hospital access payments funded by the program; however, payments are not guaranteed to cover the full assessment.
• State-owned and publicly owned hospitals must make intergovernmental transfers to the Medicaid Agency to fund direct inpatient/outpatient care payments and to support uncompensated care and disproportionate share payments through certified public expenditures; they will receive disproportionate share payments funded by these transfers and must follow federal rules.

Key Provisions

• Extends the private hospital assessment and Medicaid funding program for fiscal years 2014-2015 by changing the base year to fiscal year 2011 and setting the assessment rate at 5.50%.
• Adds Section 40-26B-77.1 requiring state-owned and publicly owned hospitals to make intergovernmental transfers to the Medicaid Agency to fund inpatient/outpatient care and to support uncompensated care and disproportionate share payments via certified public expenditures.
• Creates the Hospital Assessment Account within the Health Care Trust Fund; funds come from privately operated hospital assessments and related sources and are used only for hospital payments or to reimburse errors, with balances carried forward or refunded as applicable.
• Maintains the inpatient and outpatient payment structure, including base payments and hospital access payments equal to the upper payment limit, paid quarterly and not offset by other Medicaid payments.
• Effective October 1, 2013; the act depends on federal participation and CMS approval; if federal participation is not available, the act has no effect and funds may be refunded or redetermined accordingly.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Medicaid