Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

House and Senate conferees looking to ensure passage of mental health parity act Medicare recipients could have their chances of being treated in the nation's best hospitals drastically reduced if a measure currently before Congress passes into law, according to a report published on bio-medicine.org. By a narrow margin, on Jan 10 the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve an addition to H.R. 1424. Lobbyists for corporate hospital chains and other large hospitals were able to alter what was supposed to be the long-awaited passage of the Mental Health And Addiction Equity Act, according to the Web site. The addition of Section 6 to H.R. 1424 would prevent the Medicare program from paying for surgery or other hospital care for senior citizens if they choose to go to a hospital operated by physicians, not bureaucrats or administrators without medical training. Most House members did not know the impact of their vote, according to the officials from Physician Hospitals of America (PHA), the professional association representing physician-operated hospitals and surgical facilities. "It is hard to imagine that during an election year any member of Congress would consciously vote to take away the right of Medicare recipients to choose the best and safest hospital available," said Molly Sandvig, PHA's executive director. "We are hopeful that this sneak attack on seniors and physicians will be stripped off when the legislation is in Conference Committee." Sandvig maintained that comments from both Democrats and Republicans seemed to indicate that House and Senate conferees are already looking at stripping off the lobbyist's amendment in order to ensure passage of Mental Health Parity. "Frankly, what the big hospital chains and their lobbyists did was shameful," said Sandvig, "but at least they have come out of the shadows and confirmed that they are more interested in making money than what's good for patients and physicians."