AHA urges senators not to reintroduce IRF bill

The AHA yesterday urged Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., not to re-introduce legislation similar to what they introduced last Congress – the Preserving Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2017 (S.2204) – that would establish rehabilitation innovation centers as a new class of rehabilitation hospitals. “While we appreciate your interest in [inpatient rehabilitation facilities], we are concerned with the bill’s extensive qualification parameters,” AHA said in a letter highlighting a number of concerns with provisions of the bill. “Given the confusing combination of criteria in this legislation, the AHA cannot support this bill. Any future effort to divide the IRF field into sub-categories based on performance should be discussed first by a cross-setting mix of providers who evaluate the goals, design and value of such an endeavor to determine if it has merit for the field as a whole.”