House passes bill to undo rural hospital supervision requirement

The House on Tuesday passed legislation to delay enforcement of supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in certain hospitals.

Passed by voice vote, the bill would prevent the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from requiring Critical Access Hospitals and small rural hospitals from needing a physician to supervise therapeutic services like drawing blood.

{mosads}CMS began enforcing the rule in January. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kansas), the measure’s sponsor, said the requirement unnecessarily burdened small hospitals who may lack the resources.

“This is a change in policy that will put a strain on providers while providing no quality improvements for the patients they serve,” Jenkins said.

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said the bill would prevent the possibility for people being unable to receive care at the hospitals.

“This is a commonsense solution to a problem that has the potential to limit or delay access to health care for America’s seniors in rural communities,” Burgess said.

But Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said that it was “reasonable” to require supervising physicians overseeing certain procedures.

“It seems reasonable to me that out patient clinics that provide services to Medicare beneficiaries should meet some basic standards for having supervisory physicians available when an emergency rises,” Pallone said.

Pallone warned that changing the rule would not ultimately help patients.

“Frankly, the likely result of the bill would be confusion for hospitals,” Pallone said. 

Nonetheless, Pallone let the measure pass without demanding a roll call vote.