REPORT: 60 Hospitals Cancelled Due to New Health Law
by JohnDennis2010 on Mon, 04/12/2010
(CNSNews.com) - The new health care overhaul law - that promised increased access and efficiency in health care - will prevent doctor-owned hospitals from adding more rooms and more beds.

These hospitals are advertised as less bureaucratic and more focused on doctor-patient decision making. However, larger corporate hospitals say doctor-owned facilities discriminate in favor of high-income patients and refer business to themselves.

The new rules single out physician-owned hospitals, making new physician-owned projects ineligible to receive payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Existing doctor-owned hospitals will be grandfathered in to get government funds for patients but must seek permission from the Department of Health and Human Services to expand.

The get the department's permission, a doctor-owned hospital must be in a county where population growth is 150 percent of the population growth of the state in the last five years; impatient admissions must be equal to all hospitals located in the county; the bed occupancy rate must not be greater than the state average, and it must be located in a state where hospital bed capacity is less than the national average.

These rules are under Title VI, Section 6001 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The provision is titled "Physician Ownership and Other Transparency - Limitations on Medicare Exceptions to the Prohibition on Certain Physician Referral for Hospitals."

More than 60 doctor-owned hospitals across the country that were in the development stage will be canceled, said Molly Sandvig, executive director of Physician Hospitals of America (PHA).

"That's a lot of access to communities that will be denied," Sandvig told CNSNews.com. "The existing hospitals are greatly affected. They can't grow. They can't add beds. They can't add rooms. Basically, it stifles their ability to change and meet market needs. This is really an unfortunate thing as well, because we are talking about some of the best hospitals in the country."

The organization says physician-owned hospitals have higher patient satisfaction, greater control over medical decisions for patients and doctor, better quality care and lower costs. Further, physician-owned hospitals have an average 4-1 patient-to-nurse ratio, compared to the national average of 8-1 for general hospitals.

Further, these 260 doctor-owned hospitals in 38 states provide 55,000 jobs, $2.4 billion in payroll and pay $509 million in federal taxes, according to the PHA.

In one ironic aspect, President Barack Obama's two largest legislative achievements clashed. The Hammond Community Hospital in North Hammond, Ind., got $7 million in bond money from the federal stimulus act in 2009. It will likely be scrapped because of the new rules on physician-owned hospitals, according to the Post-Tribune newspaper in Merrillville, Ind.

These hospitals have long been a target of the American Hospital Association, which represents corporate-owned hospitals as well as non-profit hospitals.

An AHA study from 2008 says that physician-owned hospitals "lessen patient access to emergency and trauma case;" "damage the financial health of full-service hospitals and lead to cutbacks in service;" "are not more efficient than full service community hospitals;" "use physician-owners to steer patients;" "cherry pick the most profitable patients;" and "provide limited or no emergency services."

Meanwhile, one AHA fact sheet asserts that physician-owned orthopedic and surgical hospitals costs are 20 percent to 30 percent higher than average hospitals. Further, these hospitals just lead to higher profits for doctors, the AHA asserts.

"We don't cherry pick patients, period, end of story. We take patients based on their need for care, not on their ability to pay," Sandvig said. "It [the health care reform] puts control outside the hand of physicians and patients and into bureaucrats' hands really.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is one of many organizations suing to have the law declared unconstitutional on the grounds that the federal government cannot compel someone to buy a product.

While the provision on physician hospitals is not part of the lawsuit, it will affect it, Dr. said Jane Orient, AAPS executive director.

"If the law is declared unconstitutional, then the prohibition is part of the bill," Orient told CNSNews.com. "There are vested interests in getting rid of physician-owned hospitals because they do a better job and are more affordable."

The provision in the legislation and efforts opposing these hospitals can be simply explained from Sandvig's view.

"It's anti-competitive. I think it's pretty clear," Sandvig said. "We're a model that makes sense that's affecting innovation. We're trying to do something better than it has been done. Anytime you do that, there's going to be a clash between the existing and the new. Unfortunately, it's a real David and Goliath battle."

Quoted Text

The new rules single out physician-owned hospitals, making new physician-owned projects ineligible to receive payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

This just makes me SICK! It appears that we will all end up standing in line for hours in clinics seeing 'make shift' doctors that can't speak English!!! UNLESS.....we start voting  all their a$$es out come november. VOTE ALL THE LIBERAL SOCIALIST OUT!!!!

I wonder if Ted Kennedy would have waddled down to the corner clinic and stood in line to get his healthcare? These libs are so full of $hit! If he was forced to live under the same healthcare that he invisioned for us he would fly the finest physicians in the world down to the islands and meet them there. I love libs. they always want to tell us what is best for us.

We're losing hospitals, and will lose numerous doctors. We're going to have a lot of sick, and dead, people in our country.

Vote against the Dems in Nov. so the Republicans have a chance to reverse Obamadoesn'tcare.

Reps have had their issues for me at times. But in this case, the country, state and county are in such a mess, that our only choice is to vote all 'R's'. Drastic times call for drastic measures!  And these ARE drastic times for sure!

Where's Boomer on this issue?

docs/nurses will be forced to work at clinics.....

no one understands the volume of work involved in caring for more than one human being at a time.....unless you are a healthcare worker.....and certainly in NYS everyone thinks they come first....and if not they will call their lawyer.....

society's view on exactly what healthcare IS...is very twisted, confused, uneducated and such......

however,,,,folks should be allowed to PRIVATE PAY WITHOUT PENALTY OF THEIR CHOICE.....and do we all honestly think that those with 'extra $' wont find a 'private MD/nurse' to take care of them, or get
at the head of the line(and there will be lines, very long ones).....

so the next time Mr.Obama says he is LUCKY to be President,,,maybe he will be LUCKY to get at the head of the line.....now, I know he is president and all and that this is extreme,,,but, do we really think
Bill Gates will wait in line??? or the Hiltons???.....yeah, I didn't think so.....

so I wish they would stop making us feel like lowly pathetic idiots and let us choose WITHOUT PENALTY VIA $$.........