By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Okla Senate approves fee on hospital revenue
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A plan to shore up Oklahoma's cash-strapped Medicaid system by allowing hospitals to impose a fee on net revenue has cleared the Oklahoma Senate.
The Senate voted 39-9 on Monday for the bill, which authorizes a fee of 2.5 percent on the net revenue of hospitals that would be used to draw matching federal Medicaid funds.
Sen. David Myers, who sponsored the bill, says the fee would generate about $152 million from 77 different Oklahoma hospitals. That money would then bring in an additional $269 million in federal matching funds that would be used to help reimburse hospitals that provide health services to Medicaid patients.
The bill is endorsed by the Oklahoma Hospital Association, but some Republicans opposed the measure, arguing it will add to the federal deficit.