Hospitals Face Payment Cuts at Outpatient Sites in Budget
- Rate cut would affect only newly acquired facilities
- Agreement limits planned premium increases for Medicare
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Hospitals could see some Medicare payments reduced as part of a U.S. budget agreement, a change that may reduce the incentive for hospitals to buy more outpatient facilities.
The deal, brokered with the Obama administration by outgoing Republican House Speaker John Boehner, lowers payments for care delivered at hospital-owned outpatient centers, but only at newly opened or acquired ones. Hospitals would have to bill for that care under the fee schedule for doctors’ offices or outpatient sites, rather than at the higher levels allowed for care delivered in the hospitals themselves.