Roskam continues Medicare Red Tape Relief Project roundtables

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, acknowledged the arduous impact of the federal healthcare bureaucracy on the nation’s hospital providers during an April 13 regulatory reform roundtable held as part of the ongoing Medicare Red Tape Relief Project.

“We’ve reached the threshold where the regulatory burdens placed on healthcare providers are now coming at the expense of patient care and we can’t allow this to continue,” Rep. Roskam said.

The Medicare Red Tape Relief Project, started in July 2017 by former House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH), is a far-reaching effort to reduce unnecessary and burdensome Medicare regulations. The subcommittee has collected feedback from all facets of the healthcare industry and submitted recommendations on Medicare red tape in response to a request from the House Ways and Means Committee and a request for information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The subcommittee now is hosting roundtable discussions with a variety of Medicare stakeholders to hone in on problems and identify ways to fix them, with the goal being to outline and implement program solutions.

“The Health Subcommittee is focused on finding solutions that balance the need for regulations with the cost and quality of care that’s being provided,” said Rep. Roskam. “As we continue these meetings, I believe we’ll be able to find that balance.”

Dr. Lee Sacks, chief medical officer for Advocate Aurora Health, was among the providers participating in last week’s roundtable discussion and expressed optimism about the Red Tape Relief Project.

“As we move away from a fee-for-service system and towards value, providers are more accountable than ever for financial and patient outcomes across the entire spectrum of care,” Dr. Sacks said. “I want to commend Chairman Roskam for taking initiative to hear directly from providers on ways to reduce regulatory burden so that together, we can achieve meaningful change to benefit Medicare beneficiaries.”

Almost 500 comments were submitted to the Medicare Red Tape Relief Project, according to Rep. Roskam’s staff, with more than 1,300 documents coming from 312 different organizations. Hospitals reported facing tremendous procedural and paperwork burdens. For instance, an average-sized community hospital spends nearly $7.6 billion annually on administrative duties related to Medicare compliance, according to the congressman’s staff, which added that CMS publishes nearly 11,000 pages of related regulations each year.

“In recent years, clinicians – including doctors, nurses and other caregivers – find themselves spending more and more minutes and hours each day on documentation and regulatory compliance, taking them away from patient care,” Rep. Roskam said.

The April 13 roundtable discussion marked the second in a series of such planned events. The first roundtable held by Rep. Roskam and health subcommittee members was on March 15.