Government

Specialty hospital ban dropped

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 5, 2008

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Senate negotiators working on a farm bill last month proposed including language that essentially would have banned physician-owned specialty hospitals, but they pulled the provision after an outcry from House lawmakers and the American Medical Association.

The move would have offset some of the cost of the farm bill by prohibiting doctors from referring Medicare patients to specialty hospitals in which they have an ownership interest.

Physician organizations, including the AMA, say specialty hospitals provide patients and doctors more opportunity to pursue high-quality care in an alternative setting to the general hospital.

"As we work to improve the health care system, it is bad policy to take away patients' health care choices by banning specialty hospitals -- especially under the cover of the farm bill," said AMA Immediate Past President William G. Plested III, MD. "This is a sneak attack by general hospitals attempting to eliminate competition."

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/05/05/gvbf0505.htm.

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