According to the report, if Congress passes healthcare reform that includes a ban on physician-owned hospitals receiving Medicare or Medicaid certification after Aug. 1, 2010, as many as six of Reliant’s planned projects would not be able to move forward.
Reliant currently operates five rehabilitation hospitals across Texas, which are often located near acute-care hospitals and are designed to treat and rehab elderly patients so they do not have to live at convalescent facilities, according to the report. The ban on physician-ownership is concerning as 86 percent of Reliant’s inpatient days in 2008 were paid for by Medicare.
Although a few of their projects would be able to move forward without physician investors, the hospital system worries that banks may consider other projects riskier, resulting in the need to reassess and capitalize the projects, according to the report.
In order to combat the proposed ban, Reliant hired a lobbyist in September. Reliant, along with other Texas hospital executives, have also appealed to Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, who has asked the House to consider repealing the deadline to Aug. 1, 2011.
Supporters of the ban say that physician-owned hospitals drive up healthcare costs and result in unnecessary, more expensive care. However, advocates for physician-owned hospitals say the facilities create better care and efficiencies. Molly Sandvig, executive director of Physician Hospitals of America, said in the report that the ban would be devastating to physician-owned hospitals as many need Medicare and Medicaid to keep operating in the black.
Read the Morning News’s report on Texas physician-owned hospitals.
