AHA offers Trump suggestions for reducing regulatory burden on hospitals, patients

The AHA today thanked President-elect Trump for his interest and commitment to addressing regulatory reform, and suggested 33 actions the incoming administration could take immediately to reduce the burdens on hospitals and the patients they serve. “Reducing administrative complexity in health care would save billions of dollars annually and allow providers to spend more time on patients, not paperwork,” wrote AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services released 43 proposed and final rules affecting hospitals and health systems in the first 10 months of this year alone, comprising almost 21,000 pages of text. In addition to the sheer volume, the scope of changes required by the new regulations is beginning to outstrip the field’s ability to absorb them.” The letter includes examples of actions that can be taken by CMS, other agencies within HHS and other departments of the federal government.