AMIC, NRHA ask CMS to oppose site-neutral payment policy expansion

The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) and National Rural Health Association (NRHA) released a joint statement Wednesday asking CMS to oppose the expansion of site-neutral payment policies designed to reduce Medicare payments for certain services performed in hospital outpatient settings.”

In the 2017 Outpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule, CMS significantly reduced reimbursement for many off-campus hospital outpatient departments. According to the joint statement, the final rule suggested those policies could potentially be expanded further. Tim Trysla, AMIC’s executive director, said an expansion of those policies could unfairly punish some communities.

“Expanding the site neutral policy will have a significant adverse impact on the ability of certain types of communities, particularly those that are rural or have seen negative economic impacts, to provide care to underserved patients,” Trysla said in the statement. “Site neutral payments represent a significant deviation from the longstanding principle that all hospital outpatient facilities—both on-campus and off-campus sites—should be reimbursed based on the costs of providing care.”

Brock Slabach, membership services senior vice president of NRHA, also weighed in.

“The NRHA estimates that hundreds of rural hospitals will close within six months of an expanded site neutral payment policy due to inadequate reimbursement rates,” Slabach said. “Expanding the site neutral policy will reduce access to valuable preventive services, including cancer screening and other diagnostic imaging, and will curb innovation and access to emerging technologies.”

According to the statement, both organizations “look forward to continue working with policymakers” on this matter.