AHA responds to the Medicare Payment amendment proposals Hospital
The American Hospital Association, said Tuesday on the proposed changes based on Medicare hospital payment on measures of quality of care would create financial problems for hospitals, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 11/27). BRBRCMS Monday proposed changes to hospital payment system disease would reduce the payment of a lump sum to create a group of hospitals that meet the quality threshold of care awards. Under the proposal, which is summarized in a report of 104 pages in Congress, payments to all facilities would be reduced to a 2% to 5% to fund the incentive pool for distribution to hospitals that demonstrate improvement or meet the quality standards of care.BRBRThe proposal would require congressional approval. CMS said the proposal would be cost neutral for the federal
government, and it could save money if Congress is not necessary that the entire pool will be distributed (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report on, 11 / 27). BRBRTom Nickels, AHA vice president of federal relations, said that while the pay for performance for Medicare makes sense, such a system should not be used to reduce provider payments or savings program. BRBRAHA has some real concerns about the financial impact of this proposal, said Nichols, adding: Two to five percent reduction of payments [is] from the hospital, a significant reduction, and there is much uncertainty in how the money back into the system or if the money back into the system.According to Nickels, finally, who prefers a group of new funds, additional resources are provided, instead of the proposed payment
reductions (CQ HealthBeat, 11/27).Reprinted with permission from Kaisernetwork. You can view the entire report Kaiser Daily Health Policy, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at Kaisernetwork / DailyReports / healthpolicy. Kaiser Health Policy Report is published for Kaisernetwork Journal, a free service by J. Henry Kaiser Family Foundation 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All
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