IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vizient today voiced its disappointment with the calendar year (CY) 2020 proposed outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) rule issued late yesterday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
In the proposed rule, CMS intends to build on previous price transparency guidance by defining “standard charge” to include payer-specific negotiated rates, in addition to gross charges. Vizient and its member hospitals support efforts that help ensure patients have access to information they need to make informed decisions about their health care, including their out-of-pocket obligations. However, we believe that disclosing the negotiated rate between insurers and hospitals will not accomplish that goal and could, ultimately, have the effect of limiting access to care and driving up prices. Vizient supports meaningful price transparency efforts that will not discourage patients from seeking needed care due to potentially misleading cost information. We believe this is the wrong approach to price transparency, and the administration should reverse course on this provision in the final OPPS rule.
We also remain deeply concerned about CMS’ proposal to continue payment reductions to hospitals purchasing 340B drugs, which the courts have already determined to be unlawful. Vizient is further dismayed by the agency’s ongoing proposed “site-neutral” policies. We are extremely concerned that both of these proposals will have a substantial and devastating impact on access to care for the most vulnerable and complex patients.
Vizient is the nation’s largest member-driven health care performance improvement company, providing innovative data-driven solutions, expertise, and collaborative opportunities that lead to improved patient outcomes and lower costs.
About Vizient, Inc.
Vizient, Inc. provides solutions and services that improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance for more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 95% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume, to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient has earned a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute every year since its inception. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.
