AHA meeting spotlights Medicare capital payments - American Hospital Association

Healthcare Financial Management, April, 1991 by Joseph A. Kuchler

While the research and development necessary to construct a procedure-based fee schedule is conducted, a system of reasonable cost limits should be implemented, AHA said.

In 1990, HFMA submitted testimony to Congress stating that Medicare payments for ambulatory services should be based on sound guidelines appropriate for use by any payer. The statement, based on the results of a Chairman's Task Force on Ambulatory Services, outlined principles that should govern ambulatory payments and explained cost differences between hospitals and freestanding ambulatory care providers that justify additional payment by Medicare and other payers for hospital-based outpatient services.

Joseph A. Kuchler is director of Federal issues in HFMA's Washington, D.C., office.