On February 19, 2009, Governor Doyle signed the Budget Adjustment Bill (2009 Senate Bill 62), creating an assessment on hospital gross patient revenues. The assessment is expected to bring into Wisconsin hospitals a net gain of approximately $200 million in higher Medicaid payments for fiscal year 2009, which payments are expected to begin flowing in next month as implementation plans are already underway. The assessment was first proposed over two years ago, but the enacted version increases the reimbursement amount to hospitals by over $50 million annually. The assessment will take effect retroactively back to July 1, 2008, with the first full year of implementation beginning July 1, 2009.
For more information, click on http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/Misc/2009_02_16WI%20Leg.pdf, which contains the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s summary of the entire Budget Adjustment legislation.