Washington, DC - Rep. Peter Welch successfully steered an amendment through preliminary approval in the U.S. House today which will save Vermonters millions of dollars in health care costs by preventing $35 million in Medicare cuts to Vermont hospitals.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule in May this year that would have cut hospital reimbursements based on the assumption that hospitals around the country will be overpaid in the future. According to the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, these cuts, if implemented, will cost Vermont hospitals $35 million over the next five years.

"To deny these funds would have hindered the ability of Vermont hospitals to care for patients, resulting in increased costs to Vermonters already struggling to afford their health care," said Welch.

Welch added, "This cut would be devastating to Vermont hospitals and the affordability of health care for Vermonters."

CMS is seeking the cut because it assumes a proposed change in how hospitals classify Medicare patients will result in the facilities being overpaid.  The amendment to the 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill delays this cut for a year, a period of time Welch argues must be used to study the validity and impact of the decision and give hospitals time to reverse it or to plan their budgets accordingly.

The proposed rule would have amounted to a $24 billion cut to hospitals national-wide over five years.

In addition, the amendment delays proposed new payment changes by CMS that would have had a disproportionately negative impact on rural hospitals.

The amendment, spearheaded with Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL), passed late this afternoon.