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Friday, October 22, 2010

Pierluisi Pledges to Continue Efforts to Eliminate Health Care Disparities Confronting Puerto Rico Hospitals

San Juan, Puerto Rico- The Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, pledged today to continue working to eliminate the disparities facing Puerto Rico hospitals.

“Our hospitals are paid less per patient than hospitals in the states, because Puerto Rico is the only U.S. jurisdiction that does not receive 100% of the national payment rates,” observed the Resident Commissioner, who served as the keynote speaker at the annual convention of the Puerto Rico Hospital Association.

“Instead, payments to Puerto Rico hospitals are derived from a formula that is based on 75% of the national rates and 25% of the local rates. One estimate concluded that this disparity reduces Medicare reimbursements to Puerto Rico hospitals by at least $24 million each year. Imagine how much good you could do with that money,” Pierluisi added.

In 2009, the Resident Commissioner introduced legislation to fix this unprincipled formula. Pierluisi pledged today to continue fighting in the next Congress to ensure that Puerto Rico hospitals are treated the same as their counterparts in the states.

“You—and the patients you serve—deserve nothing less than full equality,” the Resident Commissioner insisted during his speech.

Another disparity, Pierluisi observed, relates to the HITECH Act, passed by Congress last year as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The HITECH Act provides incentive payments under both Medicaid and Medicare to doctors and hospitals that become meaningful users of electronic health records, and penalizes them for failing to do so within a reasonable time period.

“Puerto Rico hospitals were inadvertently excluded from the Medicare component of the program. As a result, they are not eligible for these bonus payments, although they are not subject to the potential penalties either,” Pierluisi explained.

After consulting with the leadership of the Puerto Rico Hospital Association, and obtaining the views of several of its member hospitals, the Resident Commissioner introduced legislation in February to include Puerto Rico hospitals in the HITECH Act.

“Senator Menendez has been a great champion on this issue, as he always is when it comes to health care issues in Puerto Rico. So, too, has Rob Andrews, a congressman from New Jersey who was one of the principle authors of the landmark Affordable Care Act. I fully briefed Speaker Pelosi on this problem when she was recently in Puerto Rico, and she said publicly that she was going to help us,” Pierluisi said

“Let me be crystal clear. I am completely committed to securing the inclusion of Puerto Rico hospitals in the HITECH Act. Working with the Hospital Association’s leadership, and with our many friends and allies, I am confident we can successfully resolve this issue, either this year or in the next Congress. Of course, it will not be easy. But, as our experience with the Affordable Care Act proved, nothing worth doing ever is,” the Resident Commissioner added.