President Bush’s plan to modernize Medicare by spending $400 million over 10 years could curtail reimbursements to North Olympic Peninsula hospitals, a medical lobbyist told hospital officials Wednesday night.
Kristen Michal, director of federal advocacy for the Washington State Hospital Association, outlined what the changes to Medicare could mean.
Michal and Claudia Sanders, vice president of policy development for the state hospital association, addressed Medicare concerns during a joint meeting in Port Angeles of elected commissioners from Olympic Medical Center, Forks Community Hospital and Jefferson General Hospital.
Proposed Medicare changes include cutting reimbursements to hospitals for inpatient and outpatient services and freezing payments to nursing homes and organizations providing home health services.
“The key piece is to recognize it’s highly likely changes will do some damage to other services,” Michal said.
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