Orrin Hatch: “today I introduce S. Res. 314 which expresses the sense of the Senate regarding the authority of the Secretary of Health…”

“today I introduce S. Res. 314 which expresses the sense of the Senate regarding the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make adjustments in payments made to skilled nursing facilities under the Medicare program. As my colleagues are aware, pursuant to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress directed the Health Care Financing Administration to create a new prospective payment system, or PPS, for Medicare-certified skilled nursing facilities, or SNFs, as they are called. Skilled nursing facilities are now in the process of moving from the historical cost-based reimbursement system to the new prospective payment system. This new system combines costs associated with nursing services, capital investment, and other medical services bundled together and then adjusted to reflect the needs of the patients. Congress rightly sought this new system as a way of getting skilled nursing facility operators to manage both the quality and costs of health care for seniors qualified under Medicare. As this system has been developed quickly since the enactment of the BBA, there has been a problem identified with adjustments for services considered "non-therapy" services.”