In a letter to the editor published Aug. 1 in the Wall Street Journal, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack responds to a recent op-ed by former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Center for a Healthy America at the America First Policy Institute, which advocated for site-neutral payment policies for outpatient care. 
 
“So-called ‘site-neutral’ policies fail to account for the differences between hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) and other sites of care,” Pollack writes. “HOPDs treat sicker, lower-income Medicare patients and those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, with more complex and chronic conditions than those treated in independent physician offices or ambulatory surgery centers. HOPDs are also required to comply with many more regulatory and safety codes and provide 24/7 standby capacity for emergencies. It’s appropriate that they be provided with differential payment.
 
“Existing site-neutral payment policies have already hurt hospitals. Under current law, the vast majority of off-campus HOPDs that weren’t billing Medicare before November 2015 are already paid at a site-neutral rate.
 
“Health insurers and private-equity firms, not hospitals, are responsible for most of the acquisition of physicians during the past five years. As polling has shown, most physicians are choosing to become employed rather than operate their own practices due to increased costs and burden from policies like commercial insurer prior authorizations.”

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Nov. 14 urged House and Senate leaders to oppose any policies that fail to take into account the…
Headline
The AHA Sept. 27 will launch a new TV ad urging Congress to protect patient access to care by rejecting billions of dollars in reductions to hospital care. “So…
Perspective
As we’ve seen from recent media reports, Congress — and especially the House right now — continues to struggle to put together a plan to keep the government…
Headline
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today voted 14-7 to advance as amended to the full Senate the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health…
News
A number of legislative proposals being considered by Congress would impose billions of dollars in additional Medicare payment cuts for services provided by…
Headline
AHA today voiced support for a provision in the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (H.R. 5378) that would suspend for two years the Medicaid disproportionate…