fah hospital policy blog

The Federation of American Hospitals submitted comments today on CMS’s proposed rule changing the definition of short-term, limited duration (STLD) insurance outlining how the changes would harm consumers and destabilize insurance markets.

A coalition of prominent health care and business associations, including the Federation of American Hospitals, sent a letter today to Congressional leaders asking that they take action to lower health care premiums.

FAH joined a coalition in asking Congress to pass bipartisan market stabilization legislation. The group is made up of organizations that either provide health care or coverage to hundreds of millions of Americans

“We are writing to urge you to move forward with bipartisan legislation to reduce premiums, improve affordability, and improve the individual health insurance market. We ask that you include this legislation in the omnibus appropriations bill that Congress needs to act upon by March 23.”

FAH, together with other hospital groups, wrote to Anthem to express serious concerns about the insurers coverage policies for outpatient imaging and emergency care services.

The letter highlights that Anthem’s emergency services policy lacks transparency for patients and providers, essentially requires patients to know their diagnosis before seeking care, and could lead to patients delaying life-saving medical treatment. The outpatient imaging policy also lacks transparency, is confusing to patients and providers, and will result in some patients failing to receive diagnostic testing.

FAH continues to encourage Anthem to retract these polices and work with our organizations to ensure Anthem members have access to high-quality, timely care.

You can find the complete letter here.