Coalition of 86 healthcare groups calls for change to Affordable Care Act rule
A coalition of 86 medical organizations has issued a letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to lift the moratorium on physician-run hospitals, which are currently banned by Title XVIII of the Social Security Act.
The undersigned of the letter—including the American Medical Association, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, American Osteopathic Association and American College of Cardiology, among others—expressed support for the Physician Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act (HR 9001), a proposed law that would amend Title XVII to allow physicians to open and operate hospitals, specifically in rural and hard-to-access parts of the country that may not have currently have one.
Certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act banned new physician-owned hospitals from being opened. However, HR 9001 would allow doctors to open new hospitals in communities where the nearest one is currently more than 35 miles away, or 15 miles in mountainous regions.
As currently written, the bill would also enable healthcare service organizations currently owned by physicians to expand and provide additional services to patients in neighboring communities under the same guidelines.
“Rural communities deserve every tool possible to save hospitals that are on the cusp of closure. Unfortunately, the law prevents physicians from owning hospitals, which limits one of the most logical class of potential owners, physicians, from saving a rural hospital. Lifting the physician ownership ban would give underserved rural areas a potential tool to provide hospital services in the form of a physician-led hospital,” the letter reads.
The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Vincent Gonzalez (D-TX). It was introduced to the floor of the House of Representatives in July.
HR 9001 has yet to be sent to the House floor for a vote, but the coalition of stakeholders hopes to spur things along by expressing their unified support.
“We urge you to support this critical legislation, which would give an additional lifeline to rural Communities,” they wrote.
The full letter can be found here.
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