FAH submitted a statement for the record in advance of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing on health care costs which addresses several of the legislative proposals that will be discussed.

In the letter to subcommittee leaders, FAH expressed support for the lawmakers’ goals of reducing costs without compromising access to care and shared initial reaction to some of the draft legislation, including:

Cutting Medicare Through Site-Neutral Payment Cuts: FAH Strongly Opposes Site-Neutral Payment Cut Legislative Proposals – “Site-neutral payments do not consider one simple fact: hospitals and doctors’ offices are not the same. Hospitals provide critical services to entire communities, including 24/7 access to emergency care and disaster relief. They need to maintain the ability to treat high acuity patients who require more intense care, and therefore require a different payment structure.”

Eliminating the Current Ban on Self-Referral to Physician-Owned Hospitals (POH): FAH Strongly Opposes H.R. 977, The Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2023 – “To help achieve the important goal of lowering health care costs, it is important that Congress continues to reject efforts by those who seek to weaken the Stark Law ban on self-referral to POHs. Such arrangements are mired in conflicts of interest, and years of independent data show such arrangements result in over-utilization of Medicare services at significant cost to patients and the Medicare program.”

Eliminating Medicaid DSH Cuts: FAH Strongly Supports H.R. 2665, The Supporting Safety Net Hospitals Act – “Medicaid patients need to know hospitals will be there when they need care. This legislation is vital for ensuring access to quality care for our most vulnerable patients and safeguarding the essential hospitals that serve them.”

The complete statement for the record can be found here.