Bradley Attorney Travis Lloyd Quoted in Modern Healthcare on Medicare’s Site-Neutral Payment Policy

Bradley attorney Travis Lloyd was quoted in Modern Healthcare on Medicare’s proposed outpatient payment rule which would not pay hospitals for most services provided off-site. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services’ (CMS) site-neutral payment policy has been largely criticized by hospitals for its anticipated negative impact on access to care, especially for more rural communities.

Lloyd said he was surprised at the strictness of last week's proposed rule, particularly since the CMS seemed to go out of its way to solicit input on the policy. It would have made more sense to hold off on implementing the change until a more appropriate payment system could be incorporated, he said. Instead, the agency just “threw its hands in the air.”

There is nothing in the proposal that spells out how a hospital is supposed to be paid for its overhead expenses because all of the reimbursement goes to the physician, Lloyd said. And that physician-based payment structure also raises the risk of violating the anti-kickback statute and Stark law limits on physician referrals, he said. “If the current proposal is finalized, hospitals will need to re-examine their relationships with physicians.”

The complete article, “Why hospitals are so mad about Medicare’s proposed site-neutral payment policy,” appeared in Modern Healthcare on July 9, 2016.