§9-4A-1. Legislative findings.

The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) Federal Medicaid laws encourage special recognition of disproportionate share hospitals for Medicaid reimbursement purposes.

(b) These same federal laws permit and encourage the state to fund the Medicaid program through flexible means, including public and private contributions to serve as the state share for purposes of federal financial participation.

(c) Because of state budget constraints, moneys paid to disproportionate share hospitals under the Medicaid program have not been sufficient to allow the hospitals to recover adequate reimbursement for the costs associated with providing appropriate services to Medicaid clients of this state.

(d) The policy of this state is to encourage disproportionate share hospitals to continue providing health care services to the needy citizens of West Virginia; such encouragement and support are increasingly important when combined with federal financial participation.

(e) Cost shifting is a serious problem and it is the intent of the Legislature to reduce cost shifting.