Hospitals, Insurers Expected To Lobby Congress Next Week for Increased Medicare Payments

Both the American Hospital Association and the American Association of Health Plans will lobby Congress on Sept. 10 for increased Medicare reimbursement payments, the Baltimore Sun reports. AHA plans to send up to 75 hospital trustees to meet with lawmakers, while AAHP is sending physicians from health plans in Arizona, California, Connecticut and Texas. AAHP's lobbying event is scheduled as part of the group's annual conference on Medicare and Medicaid policy, according to group spokesperson Mohit Ghose. Medicare reimbursement payment cuts are set to take effect Oct. 1, the beginning of the federal government's fiscal year, "unless Congress acts before then," the Sun reports (Baltimore Sun, 9/5). The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to mark up a "giveback" bill that would reverse the Medicare reimbursement cuts (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/4).