WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley today received a commitment from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to work on implementation of an extension of a Medicare payment designation program that is critical to small, often rural hospitals. The “tweener” program is critical to hospitals in Grinnell, Carroll, Newton and Spirit Lake and the patients they serve.
“This gap in implementation is inconsistent with congressional intent, which requires a seamless extension of this critical program,” Grassley told Price at a Finance Committee hearing. “Furthermore, it is inconsistent with the way the agency implemented the first five-year extension of this program.”
Price responded, “We have a commitment to it and it’s so incredibly important for rural areas and we’ll get back with you and look forward to working with you on it.”
Congress extended the tweener program last December, intending the extension to continue without interruption for the affected hospitals. However, the federal agencies involved interpreted the extension to include gaps, causing some of the affected hospitals to lose funding that Congress intended them to have.
Grassley sent a bipartisan letter last month to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, outlining concerns about the delays.
The tweener hospitals in Iowa are St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll, Grinnell Regional Medical Center in Grinnell, Skiff Medical Center in Newton and Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake.
Grassley’s letter to CMS is available here.
Video of his exchange with Price is available here.
-30-
