Chuck Grassley: “Absolutely. There is an administrative structure already in place for hospitals and counties to seek these…”

“Absolutely. There is an administrative structure already in place for hospitals and counties to seek these reclassifications. This process was put into the Medicare statute specifically to review and adjust payments to hospitals that might be disadvantaged under the current system. Unfortunately, hospitals often seek a legislative remedy either before they have exhausted this administrative avenue or after they have been turned down by the Classification Review Board because they don't meet the standards. It is also my observation that including one hospital or one county will only invite dozens of other hospitals and counties to seek similar payment increases, regardless of whether such a fix is warranted.”