Leadership in improving health care
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed a new rule that would increase the use of "site-neutral" payments. Such an extreme policy shift would undermine access to important health care services for Illinois communities, hitting our senior and minority populations especially hard. CMS must reconsider this unwise gambit.
As a member of the McHenry County Board, and throughout my service in various health care agencies and positions, I have seen firsthand the dire need for access to the services that hospitals provide our communities. This proposed rule takes aim at hospitals with outpatient clinics, threatening them with $760 million in Medicare cuts by leveling their reimbursements to be similar to that of stand-alone physician clinics.
The trouble with that approach is that it completely disregards the fact that the costs associated with running and maintaining all the services that hospitals provide is astronomically higher than that of a private doctor's office. From increased administrative and regulatory burdens to their required 24-hour emergency and standby disaster response capabilities, hospitals simply incur greater costs and should be compensated accordingly.
As it stands, current rates do not even cover these costs adequately. Drastically slashing rates now will undermine hospitals' ability to continue to provide the same level of access to services. Illinois' seniors and underserved minority communities that rely on hospitals' outpatient clinical care will suffer most if these Medicare cuts come to pass.
Illinois Rep. Randy Hultgren has worked tirelessly throughout his entire career to improve patient access and strengthen our overall health care system. And recently he showed that same leadership and commitment to improving health care in Illinois and across the country by urging CMS not to proceed with the site-neutral provisions of their newly proposed rule and to reverse these devastating Medicare cuts before they do irreparable damage.
Charles "Chuck" Wheeler, Chairman, Public Health and Community Services
McHenry County Board
McHenry