235 House members call for flexible HOPD rule

A bipartisan group of 235 members of the U.S. House of Representatives today urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide flexibility in implementation of the Medicare payment reductions for new off-campus hospital outpatient departments under the Bipartisan Budget Act to protect patients’ access to care. Specifically, they said the “site-neutral” payment reductions under Section 603 of the Act should not affect existing off-campus HOPDs that relocate, rebuild, change ownership or types of services, and should not affect services provided by a dedicated emergency department. They also urged the agency’s regional offices to use the rule of “reasonable proximity” when evaluating on-campus status. The letter was spearheaded by Reps. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Joseph Crowley (D-NY). Last week, 51 senators sent a similar letter to CMS, which is expected to propose Section 603 regulations in July as part of the OPPS rule for calendar year 2017.