Grassley reasserts S 1002
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
In a June 7 "Dear Colleague" letter, Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) responds to a recent Republican Policy Committee paper advising against extension of the physician-owned specialty hospital moratorium by emphasizing his "Hospital Fair Competition Act of 2005," which would allow gainsharing arrangements in lieu of physician self-referral (1"The Gray Sheet" May 16, 2005, p. 6). While revision of the DRG payment system has been viewed as a viable solution to anticompetitive practices within the specialty hospital realm, Grassley claims such changes "alone are not enough." S 1002 would "level the playing field to allow for true competition," he says...