Company: THC
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000070318-25-000009
Chunk: 17

Company: TENET HEALTHCARE CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 17
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 the computed cost exceeds the sum of the MS‑DRG payment plus the fixed threshold, the hospital receives 80% of the difference as an outlier payment.

Under the Social Security Act, CMS must project aggregate annual outlier payments to all PPS hospitals to be not less than 5% or more than 6% of total MS‑DRG payments (“Outlier Percentage”). The Outlier Percentage is determined by dividing total outlier payments by the sum of MS‑DRG and outlier payments. CMS annually adjusts the fixed threshold to bring projected outlier payments within the mandated limit. A change to the fixed threshold affects total outlier payments by changing: (1) the number of cases that qualify for outlier payments; and (2) the dollar amount hospitals receive for those cases that qualify for outlier payments. Under certain conditions, outlier payments are subject to reconciliation based on more recent data.

Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments—In addition to making payments for services provided directly to beneficiaries, Medicare makes additional payments to hospitals that treat a disproportionately high share of low‑income patients. Prior to October 1, 2013, DSH payments were based on each hospital’s low income utilization for each payment year (the “Pre‑ACA DSH Formula”). The Affordable Care Act revised the Medicare DSH adjustment effective for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2013. Under the revised methodology, hospitals receive 25% of the amount they previously would have received under the Pre‑ACA DSH Formula. This amount is referred to as the “Empirically Justified Amount.”

Hospitals qualifying for the Empirically Justified Amount of DSH payments are also eligible to receive an additional payment for uncompensated care (the “UC‑DSH Amount”). The UC‑DSH Amount is a hospital’s share of a pool of funds that the CMS Office of the Actuary estimates would equal 75% of Medicare DSH that otherwise would have been paid under the Pre‑ACA DSH Formula, adjusted for changes in the percentage of individuals that are uninsured. Generally, the factors used to calculate and distribute UC‑DSH Amounts are set forth in the Affordable Care Act and are not subject to administrative or judicial review. The statute requires that each hospital’s cost of uncompensated care (i.e., charity and bad debt) as a percentage of the total uncompensated care cost of all DSH hospitals be used to allocate the pool. As of December 31, 2024, 40 of our hospitals qualified