The American Hospital Association is escalating messaging that site-neutral payments will worsen Medicare hospital outpatient margins as the battle over site-neutral legislation heats up in Washington.
Along with releasing a new report, the hospital lobby also hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill with hospital executives. They argued that proposals reducing payment rates for hospital outpatient departments would worsen hospitals’ already shaky financial outlook, while jeopardizing care for Medicare and Medicaid patients nationwide.
The AHA’s stance is in stark contrast with the views of healthcare stakeholders including the CMS and industry watchdogs that support legislation currently being considered by Congress to standardize payments across sites, Healthcare Dive reports.
