Hospital Coalition Letter to Senator Specter Regarding Provider User Fees
August 21, 1998
The Honorable Arlen Specter
Chairman Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee
184 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Dear Chairman Specter:
We are writing to urge the Senate Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee to reject
the provider user fees contained in President Clinton's FY99
Budget Request for the Health Care Financing Administration.
We strongly oppose these "hidden taxes" and
urge you to reject them, as the House Appropriation's Committee
has done, from consideration in your mark.
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 reduced Medicare spending
by $116 billion over five years, and healthcare providers
shouldered the bulk of these reductions. The President's user
fee proposal would impose an additional $660 million reduction
in FY 99 on physicians and other providers by shifting the
burden of Medicare's administrative costs. The Administration
proposal includes the following new user fees:
- Audits ($395 million): Health care providers would
be required to fund the review, settlement, and audit of
their cost reports.
- Survey and Certification ($62 million): HHS can
require states to impose user fees for initial and re-certification
of health care facilities, necessary for provider participation
in the Medicare program.
- Electronic Filing ($110 million): HHS will assess
a $1 fee on any claim not filed electronically
- Duplicate Claim ($35.5 million): Fee for duplicate
or "unprocessable" claims submitted by providers.
- Provider Registration Fee ($20 million): Providers
and suppliers must cover the costs associated with initial
registration and renewal to the Medicare program.
- Medicare Choice ($20 million): Medicare Choice
plans are required to cover the costs of initial registrations
and annual renewals to the Medicare program.
These proposed user fees are nothing but a veiled back-door
attempt at levying additional taxes on the healthcare provider
community. When combined with the significant provider cuts
already in current law, the new taxes will have a substantial
negative impact on thousands of health care providers.
We appreciate your attention to this matter, and would be
pleased to meet with you or your staff to provide further
information on this important issue to the physician and healthcare
provider community.
Sincerely,
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
American College of Physicians- American Society of Internal
Medicine
American College of Rheumotolgy
American Health Care Association
American Hospital Association
American Medical Association
American Osteopathic Healthcare Association
Association of American Medical Colleges
Catholic Health Association
College of American Pathologists
Federation of American Health Systems
Medical Group Management Association
National Subacute Care Association
National Association for Home Care
National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems
Premier, Inc.
Renal Physicians Association
VHA, Inc.
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