Statement on Proposed FY 2017 IPPS Rule

Rick Pollack
President and CEO
American Hospital Association

April 18, 2016

Today’s rule includes a very important outcome because it reverses the inappropriate and unfair 0.2 percent payment reduction for inpatient services that was implemented as part of the original “two-midnight” policy. The AHA successfully challenged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) interpretation through the courts to convince them to restore the resources that hospitals are lawfully due.

At the same time, we are deeply disappointed that the rule nevertheless includes another large, unwarranted reduction to America’s hospitals, health systems and the patients they serve. While a cut in the hospital update factor was mandated by law in 2012, CMS’s proposal is significantly larger than Congress indicated and the hospital field anticipated. Congress was clear in its passage of physician payment reform last year that this cut should be 0.8%, but CMS ignored this directive and almost doubled the reduction. This cut poses another challenge to hospitals’ ability to care for their communities.

We will continue to analyze the proposed rule and work with CMS to make improvements.

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About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.