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ACTION NEEDED
Call or email your U.S. representative and urge them to sign a bipartisan letter asking Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to ensure next year’s Medicare payments to hospitals reflect the inflationary environment. CMS must take action to fix this inadequate payment proposal to more accurately reflect the cost of providing hospital care to patients and communities.
Find your U.S. representative’s contact information in this online directory.
TIMING
ASAP — The deadline for U.S. representatives to sign on to the letter is 2 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, June 21.
RESOURCES
- Letter to CMS administrator for members of Congress to sign
- Template letter for hospitals to send to members of Congress
BACKGROUND
In the federal fiscal year 2024 inpatient prospective payment system proposed rule, CMS proposes to increase the Medicare inpatient market basket update by only 2.8%, despite the record inflationary environment.
California’s hospitals continue to face unprecedented financial pressure as a result of COVID-19’s impact on the labor market, challenges in the health care supply chain, and increases in the cost of drugs and other vital supplies. From 2019 to 2022, costs per adjusted discharge rose 25%.
Chronic underfunding by Medicare contributed to the closure of one hospital in California (Madera Community Hospital) earlier this year, has driven another into bankruptcy (Beverly Hospital), and has forced others to eliminate financially unsustainable services to ensure they can remain open. And, unfortunately, more hospital closures are expected to follow. Kaufman Hall, a nationally renowned consulting firm, estimates 20% of California’s hospitals are currently on the financial brink.