BUSINESSAMA: Don't extend moratorium on specialty hospitalsDelegates want to see a federal study of the policy's effect before taking a position.By Bonnie Booth, amednews staff. Dec. 27, 2004. Atlanta -- Delegates to the American Medical Association Interim Meeting here voted to oppose any extension of the 18-month moratorium imposed by last year's Medicare bill on physician referrals to specialty hospitals in which they have an ownership interest. The moratorium is set to expire in early June 2005, and some delegates wanted to wait until they meet again in June to decide whether to oppose extending it. Congress has ordered the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the Health and Human Services Dept. to study the issue and report back by March 2005. Delegates who advocated waiting were hoping the reports would shed further light on the issue. But any delay, the AMA Board of Trustees said, would leave the Association without a policy of record in a critical time. The board report on specialty hospitals was the focus of delegates' discussion. "The hospital lobby is not waiting for the completion of these studies," said AMA Trustee Herman I. Abromowitz, MD, a family physician from Dayton, Ohio. "The board is committed to strengthening the safety net and community hospitals. But the recommendation to sit back poses significant risk." Doctors who are opposed to specialty hospitals say the facilities threaten the viability of community hospitals because they take away lucrative procedures that community institutions need to subsidize other departments, such as emergency and obstetrics. "In South Dakota, specialty hospitals are lifting patients with the profitable procedures," said family physician Daniel J. Heinemann, MD, of Sioux Falls. "They don't have to support less-profitable hospital departments. ... I take this report as a threat to community hospitals in our state." [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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The doctors are in the house
The AMA's House of Delegates is holding its Interim Meeting Nov. 7-10 in Houston, addressing issues such as health system reform and physician payment. Meeting coverage - Slideshow Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
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