AHA Issues Statement Voicing Concern With Proposed CMS Rule for 2026

The AHA has released a statement on the new proposed rule from CMS.

The organization writes that they are “disappointed that CMS proposes an inadequate Medicare outpatient hospital payment update as many hospitals – especially those in rural and underserved communities – operate under challenging financial pressures.” Specifically, they oppose the “proposal to expand ‘site-neutral’ cuts and eliminate the inpatient-only list, as both policies fail to account for the real and crucial differences between hospital outpatient departments and other sites of care.”

They cite studies showing that “hospital outpatient departments are more likely to serve Medicare patients who are sicker, more clinically complex, and more likely to be disabled and living in poorer, rural communities than patients treated in independent physician offices.” They also voice concern with “CMS’ proposal to claw back billions of dollars from hospitals at a far faster rate than originally promised.” They cite the “unlawfulness” of a policy that “punishes 340B hospitals for the agency’s own mistake,” since it was held to be unlawful by the Supreme Court.

The AHA also voiced concern about “the proposal to pursue a burdensome acquisition cost survey, especially if the agency’s goal is to drastically reduce Medicare payments to hospitals that serve the nation’s most vulnerable communities.”