Tiberi announces initiative to rein in Medicare regulations, improve care

U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) launched an initiative on Monday that aims to ease regulatory burdens on Medicare in an effort to drive innovation, reduce health care costs and deliver better care.

Tiberi, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, outlined three steps for his Provider Statutory and Regulatory Relief Initiative. He’ll solicit feedback from stakeholders about barriers to providing better care, host roundtables across the country to glean potential solutions and introduce legislation based on that feedback.

“The Provider Statutory and Regulatory Relief Initiative will help members of our committee work hand-in-hand with doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to identify areas where we can eliminate red tape and burdensome mandates that are driving up costs in the Medicare program,” Tiberi said. “We will listen to feedback from providers, learn more about the challenges they face, and work to deliver the regulatory relief they need to put patients, not paperwork, first.”

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the initiative was necessary because of the need to cut through the heavy amount of red tape that government imposes on health care professionals.

“Today, our committee, led by Chairman Tiberi, is taking steps to roll back the mandates and regulations that have piled up over time and prevented providers from their top priority: helping patients,” Brady said. “I look forward to hearing directly from stakeholders so we can deliver solutions that make the most meaningful difference for our providers and the Medicare beneficiaries they serve.”

The committee will kick off the initiative by soliciting feedback from stakeholders about how Congress can provide regulatory relief through legislation and administrative action.

“As the chairman of the Health Subcommittee, I encourage all stakeholders to participate and I look forward to advancing additional bipartisan solutions that strengthen Medicare for our nation’s seniors,” Tiberi said.