Research Foundation of the City University of New York (CUNY)

New York hospitals that provide care to patients who are unable to pay are compensated by supplemental payments through an indigent care pool (ICP).

ICP payments cover hospital losses incurred from free care provided to uninsured patients, as well as from insufficient Medicaid rates. Supplemental payments constitute a major source of stability for safety-net hospitals, which serve a high proportion of low-income patients; however, ICP funds are not consistently allocated based on need or indigent patient volume. In 2015, NYHealth awarded Research Foundation of the City University of New York (CUNY) a grant to conduct a study of New York City hospital ICP allocations in relation to the care provided to uninsured and Medicaid recipients.

Under this grant, CUNY conducted research and published a report documenting the current ICP allocation methodology and recommendations for improvements to better serve safety-net hospitals. Specifically, CUNY gathered current data on Medicaid and uninsured patient volumes at New York City hospitals; documented the costs for individual hospitals of providing care to these patients; and documented allocations of funds to individual hospitals. The report was shared with State and City policymakers to help inform them on better ways to allocate ICP funding to safety-net hospitals serving the bulk of low-income patients.

Read the report “An Examination of Indigent Care Pool Allocations.”