Committee hears informational proposal for targeted uncompensated-care relief for hospitals, EMS and community clinics

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee received an informational presentation April 9 on a proposal to provide one-time, targeted relief for uncompensated care affecting hospitals, emergency medical services and community safety-net providers.

Sponsor remarks described Senate File 50.47 as a multi-part proposal including a hospital uncompensated-care relief program, a community-based safety-net provider relief program, and an EMS uncompensated-care pool. The bill would distribute funds based on documented uncompensated-care episodes and is designed to be scalable to budget constraints.

John Fox, director of Dodge Center Ambulance, testified about unpaid patient contacts that require response but generate no payment, and emphasized volunteer staffing limits. A Minnesota Hospital Association representative said hospitals invested $2.6 billion in losses related to underpayments and uncompensated care in 2024 and asked for one-time funding to stabilize operations.

Representatives of community mental-health clinics and federally qualified health centers described growing uncompensated-care burdens and said the fund would help sustain services for low-income and uninsured patients; they urged timely, targeted distributions.

Members asked about funding mechanisms and accountability; sponsors said language to quantify hospital need and reporting requirements would be drafted ahead of future hearings.

Next steps: Sponsor will bring bill language and proposed accountability measures back to committee for further discussion; the measure was presented as informational and laid over.