The Congress should:
- for 2026, update the 2025 Medicare base payment rates for general acute care
hospitals by the amount specified in current law plus 1 percent; and - redistribute existing disproportionate-share-hospital and uncompensated-care
payments through the Medicare Safety-Net Index (MSNI)—using the mechanism
described in our March 2023 report—and add $4 billion to the MSNI pool.