ACUTE CARE, INC. supports the American Hospital Association’s “Protect Patients’ Access to Care” advocacy efforts, part of their more comprehensive agenda.
In particular, we believe worthy the following subset of objectives:
- Ensure that essential health care services are available in all communities by protecting vital federal funding for Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Health Insurance Marketplaces.
- Protect rural communities’ access to care by preserving and improving Medicare rural hospital designations, including re-opening the necessary provider critical access hospital (CAH) designation, removing the 96-hour condition of payment for CAHs and clarifying and facilitating co-location policy compliance.
- Ensure patient access to primary care and other outpatient services by rejecting additional payment cuts that don’t recognize legitimate differences among provider settings (also known as site-neutral payment policies).
ACUTE CARE, INC. applauds the insight and practical approach to change inherent in the AHA’s advocacy efforts directed at protecting patients’ access to care.
Paul Hudson, FACHE
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Operating Officer