Nine hospital associations have written to federal lawmakers urging them to avoid further cuts to hospital payments, saying funding reductions have already hurt patients' access to essential care.
The associations wrote the congressional budget conference committee, House and Senate leaders and committees of jurisdiction to talk to their local hospitals and assess the impact pay cuts have on constituents. Hospitals face nearly half a trillion dollars in reimbursement cuts during the next decade, including nearly $45 billion in Medicare sequestration cuts, according to the letter.
"Local hospitals simply cannot meet the needs of the communities we aim to serve if we continue to face these cuts and underpayments," the associations wrote.
The letter's authors include America's Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, the Children's Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems, Premier healthcare alliance and VHA.
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