CMS has granted a request by Lake Pointe Medical Center in Rowlett, Texas, for an exception to Stark Law, allowing the physician-owned hospital to expand its facility capacity, according to a Bloomberg report
In December 2013, Lake Pointe made a request to CMS to add 36 beds, and on Oct. 31, CMS granted the request. The hospital had to seek the Stark Law exception, due to a 2010 outpatient payment rule, which prevented existing physician-owned hospitals from expanding in size if they did not receive a waiver from CMS, according to the report.
Lake Pointe was the first hospital to be granted an exception to Stark Law under a process that rolled-out in November 2011. Some of the factors that led to the approval were Lake Point had higher annual percentages of Medicaid patient admissions over the last three fiscal years, and the hospital certified it didn't discriminate against federal healthcare beneficiaries.
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