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NM Suspends Some Medicaid Payments To Hospitals

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is withholding some Medicaid payments to hospitals while the state tries to resolve a funding dispute with the federal government.

State Human Services Department spokesman Matt Kennicott says the quarterly payments suspended in December affect several categories of funding that add up to $250 million annually.

Those funding categories include hospitals that are the sole providers in their community and hospitals that treat more uninsured patients.

The Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/XyDv0A ) reports that one of the affected hospitals is Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe.

CEO Alex Valdez says he's very concerned about the situation. The hospital receives $6 million annually for being a sole provider.

Kennicott says the dispute with the federal government involves how the amount of supplemental payments to hospitals are calculated.