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Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

HOSPITALS:

Specialty Hospitals Hearings See AMA, MedPAC Clash

Published on Thu May 12, 2005

Organizations disagree on specialty moratorium extension.

Congress should end the moratorium on specialty hospitals, which stifles healthy competition, according to the American Medical Association.

That's what AMA trustee William Plested testified May 24 to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. "Patients should continue to benefit from increased choice and competition that result from specialty hospitals," he insisted.

But Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Executive Director Mark Miller encouraged Congress to extend the current moratorium until Jan. 1, 2007. The hospital data available now only indicates specialty hospitals' emergence, which doesn't necessarily reflect what impact the hospitals will have in the future, MedPAC says.
 
Congress Needs More Time Congress must review more evidence before passing legislation to effectively shut specialty hospitals out of Medicare and Medicaid, the commission added.
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