HOSPITAL ROLE IN MEDICARE BILLS PLANNED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 19, 1992                   TAG: 9201190084
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
HOSPITAL ROLE IN MEDICARE BILLS PLANNED
In an effort to discourage unnecessary health services and control costs, the Bush administration plans to require hospitals to play a central role in arranging and billing for Medicare services, even when the services are performed outside a hospital.
A confidential memorandum summarizing new rules to be issued soon by the government was circulated this weekend at the Department of Health and Human Services.
It says the rules will require hospitals to "assume financial responsibility" for many of the medical goods and services that elderly people receive as outpatients after leaving the hospital.
The new requirement applies to laboratory work, X-rays, CAT scans, magnetic resonance imaging, scores of diagnostic tests and the rental or purchase of all sorts of medical equipment ranging from wheelchairs to prosthetic devices.
Federal health officials say the changes will result in better-coordinated care for the elderly at lower cost. But for the 34 million Medicare beneficiaries, the new rules could mean less freedom in choosing where to go for outpatient services.
Hospital executives express alarm at the change, viewing it as a costly new administrative burden imposed by the government. The new rules reflect the policy of the administration, supported by Congress, to bundle Medicare services together and pay for them as a package whenever possible.
Medicare officials say that will help control health costs because hospitals will negotiate discounts in return for agreeing to send their patients to particular suppliers and clinics.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB