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For Immediate Release
October 12, 2011 |
Contact:
Sofia Kosmetatos
(202) 603-8516
skosmetatos@ahqa.org |
Medicare
Program Offset in House-Approved Trade Bill Threatens Health Care Quality,
Safety
American
Health Quality Association Details Harm to Federal Health Care Quality
Improvement Efforts
Washington, D.C. — Reacting to the U.S. House of Representative’s
approval of trade legislation (HR 2832) that includes legislative provisions
to make major changes to the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO)
program, the American Health Quality Association (AHQA) said that massive structural
changes in the bill would, if implemented, threaten the health and safety of
Medicare beneficiaries and of all U.S. health care consumers.
The QIO program reforms were included as a funding offset for an amendment
reauthorizing Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and are expected to garner
more than $300 million in savings. Among the proposed changes, the reforms
call for the regionalization of QIO contracts beginning on or after January
1, 2012, which would affect the 11 th QIO Statement of Work. (The QIOs are
now implementing the 10 th Statement of Work, which began in August.)
“These structural changes would strip state-based QIOs of their local
functions, damage relationships with state stakeholders, and remove the long-standing
role of local physicians in conducting peer review and quality improvement
activities in their own states,” said Todd Ketch, Executive Director
of AHQA.
In addition to eliminating the statewide scope of QIO contracts, the reforms
would allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to award
separate contracts for administrative case review and quality improvement functions
within a contract area, which could be regional or even national in scope.
“AQHA and QIOs across the country were aware of the potential for funding
cuts — as QIO reforms have been mentioned in deficit reduction proposals — but
we were very surprised that such significant changes to the QIO program were
tucked into a trade bill with no real opportunity for review or discussion
of alternatives,” said Ketch.
According to former CMS Administrator Tom Scully, who now is senior counsel
at Alston & Bird, “If enacted, not only will these major changes
turn upside down an otherwise stable program in which QIOs have benefitted
providers and patients alike, but the changes also will eliminate hundreds
of jobs across the nation.”
About AHQA
The American Health Quality Association represents Quality Improvement Organizations
(QIOs) and professionals working to improve the quality of health care in communities
across America. QIOs share information about best practices with physicians,
hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, and others. Working together
with health care providers, QIOs identify opportunities and provide assistance
for improvement. Learn more about AHQA at www.ahqa.org.
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