In a Wednesday House Committee on Ways and Means hearing on the HHS budget, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said he supported potential policy changes that would make it easier to open physician-owned hospitals.
Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, discussed the "effective ban of physician-owned hospitals" included in the ACA, and asked Mr. Azar if he would seek to loosen the restrictions around physician-owned hospitals.
"I commit to work with you on any changes we can make to make sure we are allowing good competition, allowing physician-owned or other-owned, facilities to compete and deliver the highest quality, low-cost care to our beneficiaries, so I'm very happy to work with you," Mr. Azar said.