Kentucky's U.S. Congressmen Andy Barr, Thomas Massie and Hal Rogers signed the House of Representatives Dear Colleague letter and Senator Mitch McConnell wrote his own personal letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the importance of flexibility during the proposal to implement part of the Bipartisan Budget Act (BiBA) of 2015 concerning the treatment of off-campus outpatient departments.

The letters expressed concern that implementation of the rule could seriously impact rural states, such as Kentucky, and would limit access to care in already underserved areas.

Please take the time to thank the Senator and your Congressman for their support of hospitals in Kentucky.

If you have any questions, contact Sarah S. Nicholson at KHA (snicholson@kyha.com).

On February 12, KHA submitted comments to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee regarding site-neutral payment policies in response to a request from the Committee to the health care community for input.

The Association expressed concern over payment proposals that would reimburse hospitals at the same payment rates of facilities with lesser clinical capabilities. Since the costs of operating hospitals, which are the safety nets for so many communities, are much higher than other medical facilities, and Medicare and Medicaid reimburse providers at a much lower rate than the cost to care for patients, KHA urged the Committee to reject any further site-neutral payment policies.

KHA expressed disappointment in Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The law would result in substantial reductions in payments for services furnished in provider-based hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) and prevent beneficial outpatient services from being developed.

The full comment letter is...