Bipartisan "site neutral" Medicare payment reform put hospitals on defensive

The idea tracks with past recommendations from MedPAC but is staunchly opposed by industry groups like the American Hospital Association, which says the policy change would be economically ruinous as facilities continue to manage the aftermath of the pandemic, along with workforce and supply chain issues. …

Proponents include the Koch-led Americans for Prosperity, the center-left Progressive Policy Institute and high-profile health policy scholars like Brookings Institution’s Loren Adler and the American Enterprise Institute’s Brian Miller.

Major hospital groups are fighting back, saying the way they are paid needs to be eyed through a broader lens of regulatory requirements that fall on their shoulders.

[If CMS wants to implement site-neutral payment plans, then they should implement site-neutral regulation, too. If compliance costs are higher at hospitals, then bring those down along with the payments. — Ed]