Jennie Stuart Medical Center is among 54 rural hospitals in Kentucky that will receive state and federal dollars from a 13-year old litigation settlement regarding Medicaid funding rates. As part of the settlement, state officials say the hospital in Hopkinsville will receive more than $3.9 million.
Governor Andy Beshear and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the announcement Wednesday that they negotiated a settlement and secured $383 million. The governor said the settlement saved the state more than $300 million and provides long-awaited funds immediately back to rural hospitals.
The governor’s office says the litigation began with an administrative action in 2007 followed by a lawsuit in 2013, all involving the rate-setting methodology used for acute care hospitals for 2007-2015. The hospitals claimed the methodology used by Kentucky Medicaid was invalid and the Franklin Circuit Court and the Kentucky Court of Appeals agreed. The case is pending before the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Governor Beshear and Senator McConnell both contacted senior officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reiterating the importance of a quick and positive decision for rural hospitals in Kentucky.
On April 3, the governor and McConnell announced their request had been approved to recover Medicaid federal match rates and provide federal funds for a payment.
As part of the settlement, Baptist Health in Madisonville will also receive funding for over $11.8 million.
