To require the Commissioner of Social Services to seek a federal Medicare waiver to change the way hospitals are reimbursed for their services. This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) commissioner to seek approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by September 1, 2019, for a Medicare waiver to
allow hospitals to be reimbursed for services under an all-payer hospital payment system, which, under the bill, is a system in which third-party payers (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers) pay the same rates.