CMS to issue oversight plan for specialty hospitals

From Modern Healthcare’s “Daily Dose”:

CMS to Release Specialty Hospitals Plan Amid Senate Concerns

The CMS plans to release a regulatory oversight plan for specialty hospitals late this afternoon as part of its final report to Congress on the controversial topic. The CMS also is expected to allow a federal moratorium affecting specialty hospitals to expire today. Senate leaders have questioned survey data the CMS is using to support its final report and regulatory plan. In late July, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) urged the agency to take advantage of an option to extend the moratorium and delay the report two months. “Medicare officials ought to take that extra time to make sure the plan they will present is credible, defensible and precise,” Grassley said in a news release. The American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals, which have lobbied for a continuation of the moratorium, declined to comment until the regulatory plan is released. A Grassley spokeswoman said the CMS report must “account for and address any inaccuracies or biases in the final survey results.”