Measure targets doctors’ facilities
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Three Baton Rouge specialty hospitals could be endangered by proposed federal legislation that would stop doctors from referring patients to hospitals in which the doctors own an interest, one industry executive said Wednesday.
Molly Sandvig, executive director of Physician Hospitals of America, said the bill would halt physician-owned hospitals’ growth and ability to adjust to the market’s demand.
In essence, the bill would cause the nation’s 199 physician-owned facilities to “wither on the vine,” Sandvig said.
However, others, such as Catherine Harrell, spokeswoman for Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, say the bill passed by the House of Representatives will not affect existing facilities. Last year, the Lake bought a an interest in Surgical Specialty Centre.
“My appreciation is that it’s prospective. It will only affect new ventures,” Harrell said.
Louisiana, with 23 physician-owned hospitals already built or planned, is second only to Texas in specialty hospitals. The Louisiana hospitals had an economic impact of $223 million — $23.8 million of that in taxes — and generated the equivalent of 2,758 full-time jobs, according to Physician Hospitals of America.
Baton Rouge has three of the hospitals: Greater Baton Rouge Surgical Hospital, The NeuroMedical Center Surgical Hospital and Surgical Specialty Centre.
The Lafayette area has five physician-owned hospitals, according to Physician Hospitals of America. They are: Lafayette General Surgical Hospital, Park Place Surgical Hospital, Heart Hospital of Lafayette and Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital, all in Lafayette; and Southpark Hospital in Youngsville.
Prior to the vote, Sandvig said that the House bill said none of the hospitals built after Jan. 1 would be allowed to take Medicare or Medicaid patients.
There are four physician-owned hospitals in the works or considering conversion in Louisiana, including Cardiovascular Hospitals of America in Hammond, Sandvig said.
The American Hospital Association cheered the House vote. The association has long been a critic of “self-referral,” which it says results in overtreating patients and drives up costs. The AHA and other critics say the specialty hospitals target the most-lucrative procedures and patients with the best insurance, forcing community hospitals to treat the lower-paying procedures and patients without insurance.
The physician-owned hospital language is part of a bill that renews and expands the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a federal-state program that provides coverage to poor families.
The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the bill to renew the State Children’s Health Insurance Program within the next week. The Senate version does not include the self-referral ban.
The bill’s supporters say some of the additional funding required would come from stopping the new physician-owned hospitals from receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments.
Sandvig said those savings are an insignificant offset to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, whose cost is estimated at $32.3 billion over the next 4 1/2 years.
Molly Sandvig, executive director of Physician Hospitals of America, said the bill would halt physician-owned hospitals’ growth and ability to adjust to the market’s demand.
In essence, the bill would cause the nation’s 199 physician-owned facilities to “wither on the vine,” Sandvig said.
However, others, such as Catherine Harrell, spokeswoman for Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, say the bill passed by the House of Representatives will not affect existing facilities. Last year, the Lake bought a an interest in Surgical Specialty Centre.
“My appreciation is that it’s prospective. It will only affect new ventures,” Harrell said.
Louisiana, with 23 physician-owned hospitals already built or planned, is second only to Texas in specialty hospitals. The Louisiana hospitals had an economic impact of $223 million — $23.8 million of that in taxes — and generated the equivalent of 2,758 full-time jobs, according to Physician Hospitals of America.
Baton Rouge has three of the hospitals: Greater Baton Rouge Surgical Hospital, The NeuroMedical Center Surgical Hospital and Surgical Specialty Centre.
The Lafayette area has five physician-owned hospitals, according to Physician Hospitals of America. They are: Lafayette General Surgical Hospital, Park Place Surgical Hospital, Heart Hospital of Lafayette and Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital, all in Lafayette; and Southpark Hospital in Youngsville.
Prior to the vote, Sandvig said that the House bill said none of the hospitals built after Jan. 1 would be allowed to take Medicare or Medicaid patients.
There are four physician-owned hospitals in the works or considering conversion in Louisiana, including Cardiovascular Hospitals of America in Hammond, Sandvig said.
The American Hospital Association cheered the House vote. The association has long been a critic of “self-referral,” which it says results in overtreating patients and drives up costs. The AHA and other critics say the specialty hospitals target the most-lucrative procedures and patients with the best insurance, forcing community hospitals to treat the lower-paying procedures and patients without insurance.
The physician-owned hospital language is part of a bill that renews and expands the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a federal-state program that provides coverage to poor families.
The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the bill to renew the State Children’s Health Insurance Program within the next week. The Senate version does not include the self-referral ban.
The bill’s supporters say some of the additional funding required would come from stopping the new physician-owned hospitals from receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments.
Sandvig said those savings are an insignificant offset to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, whose cost is estimated at $32.3 billion over the next 4 1/2 years.
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