physician-owned facilities.
3-year window to expand
Physician-owners nationwide are hoping that these results will provide
new momentum to a congressional proposal that would amend the
Affordable Care Act so that they can expand their capacity. If enacted,
House of Representatives Bill 2513 (osmag.net/cKE9Jz), known as the
"Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015," would sus-
pend the ACA's lockdown on physician-owned hospital expansions for
approximately 3 years, letting those facilities that file requests by Sept.
30, 2019, increase the number of beds on site.
After this hiatus, the moratorium on expansions would resume.
However, the ACA's exception criteria would be revised to grant those
facilities with consis-
tently high quality rat-
ings the ability to
expand. The bill
defines "consistently
high quality ratings"
as achieving 3 stars or
more for 12 consecu-
tive quarters. In order
to ensure uniform
results, CMS would
not be permitted to
alter the methodology
for computing hospi-
tal quality ratings
before October 1,
2019.
Legal Update
LU
2 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 1 6
Call 800-424-2155
www.greermedical.com
Sapphire
S U C T I O N R E S E R V O I R
™
With proven
greater suction
to promote faster
wound healing.
Made in America.
P
