Hospitals Oppose Site-Neutral Outpatient Pay Proposal In President's Budget

Hospital groups oppose a measure in the president's budget that would lower Medicare pay rates hospitals receive for outpatient care to the rates paid for providing those same services at doctors' offices. The budget proposes site-neutral pay between hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers, which are typically doctors offices that do same-day minor surgery or diagnostic procedures. Although the fee schedule varies based on the procedure, ambulatory surgical centers typically are paid less. According to President Obama's fiscal 2016 budget, the...