NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8135
SPONSOR: Weprin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to general hospital
cost reports
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to require general hospitals to post their
current year cost reports on their website
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would require general hospitals to post their current year
institutional cost reports on their website within thirty days of
submitting such cost report to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
services (CMS) and provides for penalties for noncompliance.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would require general hospitals to post their current year
institutional cost reports on their website within thirty days of
submitting such cost report to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
services (CMS). Hospitals are required by federal regulation to submit
cost reports for the twelve-month period immediately preceding the date
such reports are due. These federal cost reports contain information
about hospital services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. They are
used by the federal government to develop Medicare rates. Such reports
are available through the healthcare cost report information system
managed by CMS; however, access to such cost reports requires special-
ized software and is generally only available through subscription
services.
New York also requires general hospitals to file institutional cost
reports that slightly differs from the cost report required by CMS,
insofar as there are certain exhibits to the cost report required by New
York that are not required by CMS. Like the federal government, the New
York State Department of Health (DOH) uses such reports to develop Medi-
caid rates, assist in the formulation of reimbursement methodologies,
analyze trends, develop fiscals and pool allocation distributions. It is
also used for the Upper Payment Limit (UPL) calculation along with the
Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments.
Currently, New York requires general hospitals to submit institutional
cost reports two years after the cost reporting period. CMS generally
requires general hospitals to submit cost reports within five months of
the end of its fiscal year, with an exception that is also outlined in
this bill, that recognizes that some general hospitals do not operate on
a calendar year basis. Along with the two-year lag, New York consistent-
ly fails to make New York cost reports available through the OpenNY data
system. The latest cost report year posted by the DOH is 2016, meaning
nearly a decade of hospital Medicaid spending is not publicly available.
General hospitals are the largest category of Medicaid spending by New
York State. Data collected by DOH is stale and does not reflect current
Medicaid or Medicare spending by such hospitals. This bill seeks to make
hospital spending more transparent and publicly available, and also to
provide the public with more current information than is currently
provided to DOH. Hospitals are already required to prepare such reports
and must submit such reports to CMS on time or suffer withholding of
Medicare reimbursement. Hospitals have a strong incentive to comply with
this requirement and this bill seeks to reflect the same incentive under
New York State law.
As the largest recipient of Medicaid funding, general hospitals have an
obligation to the public to disclose how such funds are being spent. The
reports by CMS also disclose how much charity care a hospital provides,
an important metric to determine whether hospitals are fulfilling their
charitable mission. General balance sheet information is required under
current reporting, which allows both policymakers and the public to
determine the overall fiscal health of critical health care institutions
and providers. Last, hospital spending, including costs and charges, is
among the least transparent sources of overall state spending. Requiring
general hospitals to timely disclose information it is already required
to disclose to the federal government provides the public with critical
insight into the largest driver of State spending.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8135
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 1, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to general hospital
cost reports
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2807 of the public health law is amended by adding
2 a new subdivision 22 to read as follows:
3 22. (a) For purposes of this subdivision, "institutional cost reports"
4 shall mean the annual financial and statistical report forms that cover
5 a consecutive twelve-month period of a general hospital's operations and
6 are submitted by general hospitals to the Centers for Medicare and Medi-
7 caid Services pursuant to 42 CFR § 413.24.
8 (b) General hospitals shall post publicly on their website, in a
9 conspicuous place, its institutional cost reports, as defined by this
10 subdivision, at the time and in the manner such institutional cost
11 reports are submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
12 which shall be on or before the last day of the fifth month following
13 the close of the period covered by such report, provided, however, that
14 for cost reports ending on a day other than the last day of the month,
15 such reports shall be due to the department one hundred fifty days after
16 the last day of the cost reporting period.
17 (c) General hospitals shall publicly post on their website, in a
18 conspicuous place, its institutional cost reports within thirty days of
19 submitting such institutional cost report to the Centers for Medicare
20 and Medicaid Services. Reports shall be publicly posted in the form and
21 manner such hospital submits them to the Centers for Medicare and Medi-
22 caid Services, regardless of whether such reports are complete or incom-
23 plete, audited or unaudited.
24 (d) Failure to publicly post such institutional cost reports in the
25 time prescribed by this subdivision shall constitute a violation of this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11650-01-5
A. 8135 2
1 subdivision. Violations of this subdivision shall subject a general
2 hospital to the penalties of section twelve of this chapter for each day
3 such cost reports are not submitted to the department, and the failure
4 of a general hospital to file such institutional cost report for more
5 than one day shall be deemed a continuing and repeat violation and
6 subject such general hospital to the enhanced penalties of paragraph (b)
7 of subdivision one of section twelve of this chapter.
8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
