“For every thousand pennies given to the hospital, the hospital has to give back one penny. A hospital that makes $10 million has to give back $10,000,” says Steve Rupert, DO, a pain medicine physician in Evansville, Ind. “That is not a sign of weakness. It demonstrates the hospitals are protected.”
The American Hospital Association has contested the cuts, saying cuts would cause billions of dollars to be “taken out of the system just as hospitals are grappling with sweeping changes and payment reductions.”
Dr. Rupert says he would be “grateful” if physician payment cuts were anywhere near 0.1 percent.
Contact Lindsey Dunn at lindsey@beckersasc.com.
