In a joint letter, WSHA and the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems strongly opposed site neutral payment policies on provider-based hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). Submitted to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, the letter was in response to a request for provider feedback on these policies.
In addition, WSHA also sent our letter to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a member of the committee. WSHA’s letter raised concerns about the recent payment cuts to future HOPDs and the need to grandfather in those departments that were under development when Congress enacted the policy. WSHA opposes site neutral payment policies on the basis that HOPDs care more for low income and Medicare and Medicaid patients, and that they comply with increased regulations that come with being a provider-based hospital department rather than a freestanding physician office or ambulatory surgical center.
