A Disproportionate Share: A Complex Patchwork of Supplemental Payments

Health Affairs This Week is off for a few weeks. We will return for a special episode in December before returning to our regular schedule in January 2025.

For the next few weeks, we present the three-part A Disproportionate Share, a podcast from NYC Health + Hospitals's Michael Shen, a primary care doctor and Chief Creative Officer for the medical education podcast Core IM, as part of the Health Affairs Pathways show that we published in 2023. We encourage listeners to check out the other series from that podcast.

Unique series were created by fellows at the Health Affairs Podcast Fellowship Program, designed to support early to mid-stage professionals pursue an audio project and tell a unique health care story.

In A Disproportionate Share, NYC Health + Hospitals's Michael Shen, a primary care doctor and Chief Creative Officer for the medical education podcast Core IM, explores the role of safety net hospitals in caring for America's vulnerable populations.

In the second episode, Shen discusses how we pay for essential care for low income patients delivered through our safety net hospitals and the complex patchwork of supplemental payments for such care. He interviews individuals from America's Essential Hospitals and NYC Health + Hospitals to explain cost-shifting, uncompensated care, payer mixes, cash on-hand, and more.

Related Links:

• What Types of Hospitals Form the Safety Net? (Health Affairs)
• Podcast: Understanding Private Equity Investment in Hospitals (A Health Podyssey)
• Can Safety-Net Hospital Systems Redesign Themselves To Achieve Financial Viability? (Health Affairs Forefront)
• Safety-Net Hospitals More Likely Than Other Hospitals To Fare Poorly Under Medicare's Value-Based Purchasing (Health Affairs)