Jessica L. O'Hara
The House of Representatives and Senate are circulating letters to stop indirect medical education (IME) cuts included in last year’s inpatient prospective payment system rule (IPPS). Please contact your members of Congress to urge them to sign on to these letters.
Representatives Richard Neal (D-MA) and Patrick Tiberi (R-OH), members of the House Ways and Means Committee, are asking their House colleagues to sign a letter to President Barack H. Obama, requesting withdrawal of the Bush Administration proposal, which would cut the IME payments Medicare makes to hospitals when reimbursing for capital purchases. Senate Finance Committee members Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) are circulating a similar letter, addressed to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera.
The recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) cancelled the first year of CMS’s planned two-year elimination of the IME adjustment to capital PPS payments. However, despite the ARRA language, without further congressional action, the provision will take effect October 1, 2009, and will cost teaching hospitals nearly $375 million a year.
Please contact your members of Congress and ask them to sign on to their applicable letter. Contact information for your representative and senators is available on the House and Senate websites. For your convenience, below is a form letter you may use when making your contacts. Please remember to provide the letter you are requesting your member of Congress to sign.
Dear Senator/Representative [last name]:
As [name, title, institution], I urge you to sign on to the attached [Schumer-Roberts or Neal-Tiberi] letter requesting the withdrawal of the capital indirect medical education (IME) cut that was included in last year’s inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) rule.
In 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) promulgated a rule that phased out over two fiscal years (FY) (FY 2009 and 2010) the IME adjustment paid to teaching hospitals for their capital expenditures. The policy was initially implemented on October 1, 2008, and was scheduled to be fully phased-in on October 1, 2009.
While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act cancelled the first year of the elimination of the IME adjustment, without further congressional action, the provision will take effect October 1, 2009, costing teaching hospitals an estimated $375 million per year. This potential loss would severely threaten the financial viability of teaching hospitals, which serve a high volume of Medicare beneficiaries and provide critical health services otherwise unavailable in many communities.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please contact me at [phone] or [email] with questions.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Title]
[Institution]