Policy & Practice

The American Hospital Association and two other hospital organizations have agreed to accept $155 billion in reimbursement cuts for hospitals over the next 10 years as part of health care reform. In a deal negotiated by Senate lawmakers and announced by Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals would see reductions in their Medicare and Medicaid fees, in addition to $50 billion in cuts in programs that help pay for care to the uninsured. Some of the cuts would take effect only if reform reduces the uninsured population. The AHA suggested that the deal was as far as hospitals could go: Reimbursement couldn't be cut further “without damaging hospitals' ability to care for their communities.” Two groups that did not take part in the negotiations, representing public hospitals and children's hospitals, warned that cuts, if not carefully crafted, could hurt institutions caring for large numbers of Medicaid patients.