Advocacy Issue: Physician-Owned Hospitals

Some members of Congress continue to propose weakening Medicare’s prohibition on physician self-referral to new physician-owned hospitals and loosening restrictions on the growth of grandfathered hospitals. Legislation has been introduced that would allow problematic physician-owned hospitals to open and permit unfettered growth in existing physician-owned hospitals.

AHA Position

Congress should maintain current law; preserve the ban on physician self-referrals to new physician-owned hospitals; and retain restrictions on the growth of existing physician-owned hospitals.

Key Resources

• Fact Sheet: Physician Self-referral to Physician-owned Hospitals
• Fact Sheet: Select Financial, Operating and Patient Characteristics of Physician Owned Hospitals Compared to Non-Physician Owned Hospitals – without charts
• Fact Sheet: Select Financial, Operating and Patient Characteristics of Physician Owned Hospitals Compared to Non-Physician Owned Hospitals – with supplemental charts and appendix
• Letter: FAH, AHA Oppose Legislation Allowing Unfettered Growth of Self-referral to Physician-owned Hospitals