10.15.2018

Delegation Members Sign on to Protect Hospital Payments

Members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation have signed on to a letter from Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and Mike Thompson (D-Cal.) asking CMS to rescind its proposed payment reductions to certain hospital outpatient departments.

Under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), CMS is proposing to cut payments for Evaluation and Management services and expand certain site-neutral payment policies to grandfathered hospital provider-based departments.

The new site-neutral payments are inadequate because the large number of patients presenting at these clinics require more specialized services than those generally provided in physicians’ offices. Because physicians’ offices are available for only certain hours of the day, site-neutral payments do not include the additional costs of 24/7 operation available in hospital departments. 

The hit to Massachusetts hospitals could exceed $25 million. As of last Friday, the following Massachusetts Democratic Representatives signed the Roskam-Thompson letter: Katherine Clark, Bill Keating, Joe Kennedy, and James McGovern.