AHA again asks court to enforce judgement in site-neutral court case

In response to a government filing in a court case on site-neutral payment, the AHA, Association of American Medical Colleges and several member hospitals again urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce its September ruling vacating a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule reducing payments for hospital outpatient services provided in off-campus provider-based departments grandfathered under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.

“CMS has not even changed its payment rates for CY [calendar year] 2019, nor has it made hospitals whole for past underpayments,” the organizations said. “It would add insult to injury to force hospitals to suffer further rate cuts indefinitely into CY 2020 under phase two of a two-year reduction that was already declared unlawful.” 

The AHA and plaintiffs have asked that the court rule quickly on their request before CMS initiates the second phase of the cuts as part of the CY 2020 outpatient prospective payment system final rule that takes effect on Jan. 1.