AHA expresses support for supervision bill, concerns with Medicaid bills

The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee today held a hearing on several Medicare and Medicaid bills. In a letter to the subcommittee, AHA expressed strong support for H.R. 2878, which would extend through calendar year 2015 the enforcement delay on direct supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services provided in critical access hospitals and rural prospective payment system hospitals with 100 or fewer beds. In addition, AHA continues to support passage of the Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act (S. 257/H.R. 1611), which among other provisions would adopt a default standard of “general supervision” for outpatient therapeutic services. AHA also expressed concerns with two Medicaid-related bills (H.R. 1362 and 2151). “While we understand the importance of increased transparency, we are concerned that these bills, which ask for more reporting to be done by the states, would ultimately place more of a burden on hospitals in terms of the proposed reporting requirements, as the states will turn to the hospitals to provide information for the reports and audits,” wrote AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels.