Bloomberg: What Are the Prospects for Rep. Brady’s Bill on Medicare Hospital Stay Policies?
House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) Nov. 19 unveiled a discussion draft of a bill that would change how Medicare pays for some hospital stays.
by Michael WilliamsonHouse Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) Nov. 19 unveiled a discussion draft of a bill that would change how Medicare pays for some hospital stays. In particular, the draft bill, titled the Hospital Improvements for Payment Act of 2014, would address “problems associated with Medicare's two-midnights policy, short inpatient stays, outpatient observation stays” and the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, a Nov. 19 statement from Brady's office said. According to the statement, the draft bill is part of the Ways and Means Committee's “broader effort on comprehensive Medicare reform.” Provider groups have railed against these issues for some time. Even the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which is a nonpartisan body that advises Congress on Medicare issues, has urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reform the RAC program and modify payment policies governing short-term hospital stays. One provider group had mixed reactions to the draft bill. Chip Kahn, president and chief executive officer of the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH), told me Nov. 20 that his group “applauds the Ways and Means Committee for its efforts to reform a number of complex hospital Medicare payment policies, and for the Committee's continuing commitment to engage stakeholders in the policymaking process.” Kahn also said, though, the FAH is seriously concerned with the draft bill's efforts to roll back the physician self-referral law, or the Stark law. According to Kahn, the bill's changes to the Stark law "run the risk of bringing back arrangements which will increase utilization and health care spending and threaten safety." However, not everyone thinks the bill has much of a chance to become law. Eric Zimmerman, a partner with McDermott Will & Emery LLP, told me Nov. 20 e-mail that “Stakeholders should view this bill for what it is, a discussion draft intended to spark debate, and not as something that should be expected to advance in its current form this year or next.” “Nonetheless, it should be seriously evaluated because it will start a new discussion about the future of Medicare payment to hospitals that could lead to legislative change in the future,” Zimmerman also told me. Take a free trial to the Health Law Resource Center to receive industry-leading health law news and analysis. |
