The House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation on Tuesday introduced by U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) to help hospitals better serve their patients.
The Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care (HIP-C) Act, H.R. 5273, would maintain fiscally responsible payment policies that were enacted under the Bipartisan Budget Act and help hospitals that were in the process of building off-campus outpatient centers when new policies were enacted.
“H.R. 5273 — the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act or ‘HIP-C’ provides some necessary regulatory relief to providers and makes it easier for beneficiaries to enroll in Medicare,” Tiberi, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said. “As members of Congress we talk a lot about removing paperwork burdens and allowing providers to concentrate on what matters most — delivering patient care. Today’s bill puts our money where our mouths are.”
The bill, introduced by Tiberi and U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), would prevent hospitals that serve low-income communities from being penalized under the Readmission Reduction Program — a bipartisan provision led by U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH).
“I am pleased to see my efforts to reform the hospital readmission program continue to move forward in the House,” Renacci said. “As a former businessman with a long record of experience in the health care industry, it’s clear that the program unfairly penalizes safety-net and teaching hospitals – taking valuable resources from those who are in need of them most. While I agree with the goal of reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions, the implementation of this program has been problematic, especially for those hospitals serving low-income populations. My provision would implement a transitional risk adjustment methodology to serve as a proxy of socio-economic status for the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.”
U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), a member of the Subcommittee on Health, also supported the HIP-C Act.
“Several Minnesota hospitals will benefit from today’s actions, and it will give patients more access to quality care in their communities,” Paulsen said.
The bill would also take steps to preserve access to health care for seniors and to support physicians who treat patients in ambulatory surgical centers.