— Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) are releasing a bipartisan plan to stop hospitals from getting more payments from Medicare for the same services delivered at the doctor’s office, POLITICO has learned.

Robert reports that the two senators will release a legislative framework Friday detailing a plan to impose site-neutral payments for hospitals’ outpatient departments. The goal is to generate savings that can then be used to help rural and so-called safety-net hospitals.

“If the same care can be safely provided in different settings, patients should not pay hundreds more simply because their doctor works in a hospital,” Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement to POLITICO.

Hassan added that the measure could save taxpayers billions of dollars because of lower costs.

However, their plan faces long odds of passing both chambers during the lame-duck session, even as it comes amid broader efforts to reduce Medicare spending. And it will likely face blowback from hospital groups, which argue they need to charge the additional rates to compensate for added costs such as stricter licensing requirements.

If enacted, the framework would install one rate for common services provided outside of a hospital. It would also remove a grandfathering exception for a separate site-neutral pay cut installed in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.

Cassidy and Hassan seek to use the savings to invest in rural and safety-net hospitals that have been slammed by closures over the years.

from Endpoints News: