At an American Hospital Association meeting on Tuesday, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, Seema Verma, urged hospitals to comply with the payment policies being driven by the Trump administration. According to the CMS Administrator, the current industry’s climate could see more challenging times, as the government is getting more involved in the healthcare industry.
She went on to state that “Americans are ‘fed up’ with high healthcare costs and surprise billing.” Surprise medical billing happens when a patient receives care from a doctor or hospital outside of their health insurer’s network and receives a bill for the amount that the insurance cannot cover. Currently, surprise medical bills are on the rise, according to a new study published last month from Stanford University.
With the rise of high healthcare costs and surprise medical billing, government involvement will also increase; the Trump administration is pushing for value-based payment policy and more transparency, to ease the instability in the healthcare industry. Verma urges hospitals that resisting these changes could lead to tougher times and more government insurance competition.
“Our choices are clear, we can choose Medicare for All or a public option, doubling down on government and a one-size-fits-all, socialist approach, with government price setting . . . [or move] to a system of competition and value,” Verma said.
Verma continues to side with the Trump administration and had attempted to sway the audience at the meeting that the Trump administration’s efforts, such as the recovery audit contractor program and the Hospital Compare quality ratings, is the “future.”
Read the original article from Modern Healthcare here.
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