AHA urges president to protect health care for seniors, disabled in FY 2017 budget

AHA today urged President Obama to protect access to health care services for seniors and the disabled by not including any further hospital payment reductions under Medicare in his fiscal year 2017 federal budget proposal. “With total payment reductions to hospitals approaching $158 billion since 2010, including more than $62.7 billion in Medicare sequestration cuts, many hospitals are at a breaking point in their ability to ensure patients have access to the care they need, when they need it,” wrote AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “…Now is the time to work together toward long-term solutions that will set Medicare on a path toward future sustainability and protect the promise of care for our nation’s seniors. Payment cuts that simply reduce funding for hospital services should not be part of that effort, and we ask that you refrain from including such cuts in your FY 2017 budget submission. Hospitals are working to make health care more affordable through innovations in care delivery focused on improving population health, increasing quality and efficacy of care, and better managing transitions across the care continuum.”