Medicare is Missing a Way to Save the Trust Fund Money: Unnecessary Transfer Agreements Are Costing the System Millions
In a recent letter to Center for Medicare and medicaid services (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, Iowa Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote that procedures being done at the nation’s Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) “would greatly reduce overall Medicare spending.”
Medicare Regulation §416.41 states “ The ASC must have an effective procedure for the immediate transfer to a hospital, of patients requiring emergency medical care beyond the capabilities of the ASC.�
This spring two Missouri lawmakers prepared legislation that would drop the transfer agreement requirement. Robert Schaaf, told the Associated Press he believes hospitals are trying to stifle competition. “Hospitals claim that surgery centers are eating into their patient base,” Schaaf said. “The point is, it’s not their patient base. It’s every competitors’ patient base. It is in the public’s best interest to have more competition in health care, not less.”
“(n) Transfer agreement (1) In accordance with section 1861(1) of the Act, the facility (other than a nursing facility located in a State on an Indian reservation) must have in effect a written transfer agreement with one or more hospitals approved for participation under the Medicare and medicaid programs that………………..(2) The facility is considered to have a transfer agreement in effect if the facility has attempted in good faith to enter into an agreement with a hospital sufficiently close to the facility to make transfer feasible.â€Â?.
Read more on this topic.In a recent letter to Center for Medicare and medicaid services (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, Iowa Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote that procedures being done at the nation’s Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) “would greatly reduce overall Medicare spending.”
Medicare Regulation §416.41 states “ The ASC must have an effective procedure for the immediate transfer to a hospital, of patients requiring emergency medical care beyond the capabilities of the ASC.�
This spring two Missouri lawmakers prepared legislation that would drop the transfer agreement requirement. Robert Schaaf, told the Associated Press he believes hospitals are trying to stifle competition. “Hospitals claim that surgery centers are eating into their patient base,” Schaaf said. “The point is, it’s not their patient base. It’s every competitors’ patient base. It is in the public’s best interest to have more competition in health care, not less.”
“(n) Transfer agreement (1) In accordance with section 1861(1) of the Act, the facility (other than a nursing facility located in a State on an Indian reservation) must have in effect a written transfer agreement with one or more hospitals approved for participation under the Medicare and medicaid programs that………………..(2) The facility is considered to have a transfer agreement in effect if the facility has attempted in good faith to enter into an agreement with a hospital sufficiently close to the facility to make transfer feasible.â€Â?.
Read more on this topic.