Indigent Care Trust Fund
The Indigent Care Trust Fund (ICTF) was established in 1990 to expand Medicaid eligibility and services, support rural and other health care providers, primarily hospitals, which serve the medically indigent, and fund primary health care programs for medically indigent Georgians. The ICTF is an umbrella program which contains the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program, nursing home provider fees, Care Management Organization (CMO) Quality Assessment Fees; Breast Cancer Tag Fees, ambulance rates and other uninsured/indigent initiatives. With ICTF funding, even uninsured people who do not qualify for Medicaid may receive health care from participating hospitals.
ITCF Fact Sheet - Updated 1/10/08
HS&R Reports
Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Program
The Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program is a federal program that works to increase health care access for the poor. Hospitals that treat a "disproportionate" number of Medicaid and other indigent patients qualify for DSH payments through the Medicaid program based on the hospitals’ estimated uncompensated cost of services to the uninsured.
Qualifying for DSH
To qualify for DSH, a hospital must satisfy the following federal criteria.
Federal criteria
- Provide non-emergency obstetrical services to Medicaid recipients (if those services were provided on or before December 22, 1987)
- Have a Medicaid inpatient utilization rate of at least one percent