Rural Ohio Hospital System Awaits $80M in Stalled Medicaid Payments
Marietta, Ohio-based Memorial Health System is owed roughly $80 million in Medicaid supplemental payments that remain stuck pending CMS approval, CEO Scott Cantley told Becker's. About $60 million stems from the Ohio Rural Tax Pilot Program, a state-directed payment program for rural hospitals that has awaited CMS sign-off for 15 months, while another $20 million from the state's 2026 Hospital Additional Payments Program has also gone unpaid. The delay has stalled debt financing for a Women and Children's Hospital project in Belpre built in partnership with Akron Children's Hospital. The Ohio Medicaid department says it has completed all required submissions and the program now awaits CMS action, with Cantley pointing to CMS's September 2026 approval of a similar Texas county-funded program as a hopeful precedent.