House's Latest Version of Reform Bill Pushes Back Deadline, Opens Narrow Window for Growth on Ban of Physician-Owned Hospitals

The House of Representatives' newly released draft reconciliation bill makes two key changes in the proposed ban on physician-owned hospitals in Congress' health reform legislation, according to a report by Physician Hospitals in America.

The changes, in Section 1106 of the bill, would:

• Push back to Dec. 31 the ban on new physician-owned hospitals from Feb. 1, 2010 (retroactively), in the original House bill and from Aug. 1 in the Senate bill.
• Allow an existing hospital to grow if it treats the highest percentage of Medicare patients of any healthcare facility in its county and is not the only facility in the county.

The House is expected to vote on the bill March 21. If it passes, President Obama would sign it and the Senate would begin its own reconciliation process.

PHA Executive Director Molly Sandvig said she is not aware of any physician-owned hospital that would meet the Medicare percentage requirement.

Read the House's draft reconciliation bill (pdf).

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