Here’s the latest on H.R. 2191, the legislation to amend the Stark Law in regard to physician investment in or ownership of hospitals.
The resolution’s text was just released. It’s not as broad as I had hoped, but some relief from discrimination against physician investment in and ownership of hospitals is better than none.
If H.R. 2191 were to be enacted in its present form, we’d see a liberalization of the Stark Law’s restrictions in two key ways:
First, rural hospitals would be carved out from Stark’s self-referral ban.
And, second, there would no longer be a prohibition on the expansion of an existing physician-owned hospitals’ capacity in terms of the number of operating rooms, procedure rooms, and beds.
Together, this could make physician investment in rural hospitals more feasible, allow existing physician-owned hospitals to expand, and, in general, revive the debate over singling out physicians in terms of prohibitions on hospital ownership and investment.
After all, Stark doesn’t prohibit hospitals from essentially owning physicians. But even with the changes envisioned by H.R. 2191, there would still be restrictions on physician ownership of hospitals. That emperor has no clothes and to pretend it has is just some bullshit.
Check back for the latest updates as H.R. 2191 makes its way through the legislative process.
