Investigates the impact of possible changes to the Medicare disproportionate share (DSH) payment policy, designed to incorporate information on the hospital's uncompensated care burden as well as to improve the payment formulae. DSH payments were computed for individual study hospitals under six alternative models, and compared to the payments now made under current law. For each alternative, the authors examined the overall financial impact by type of hospital and the characteristics of hospitals that would experience either large payment increases or decreases relative to the current system. These analyses are intended to help policymakers evaluate the likely impact of revising the DSH payment methodology.