The Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) sent a letter to House leaders regarding major provisions in the recently introduced Lower Costs, More Transparency Act that could limit patients’ access to care and limit price transparency. 

In the letter, FAH President and CEO Chip Kahn applauded the efforts of lawmakers to protect the health safety net by eliminating Medicare disproportionate share cuts, which help the uninsured and most vulnerable. 

However, he pointed out some provisions in the bill threaten patient access and choice: 

“We urge you to address provisions that threaten to drive up prices for a subset of ambulatory surgical center (ASC) patients and exacerbate financial strains on hospitals, particularly those in rural and underserved communities. FAH strongly opposes the bill’s cuts to hospital services based on a misguided ‘site neutral’ scheme,” Kahn wrote. “The bill also limits transparency requirements for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to those owned by hospitals. This arbitrary approach to transparency means that patients served by the vast majority of ASCs – nearly 80 percent – would not have access to accurate pricing data to make informed health care decisions.” 

The letter was sent to Energy Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris-Rogers (R-WA) & Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), as well as Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) and Education and Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-VA).   

You can find the complete letter here.