U.S. Women's Health Alliance Applauds New Measures to Combat Anti-Competitive Practices by Some Hospitals

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. , Aug.

7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Women's Health Alliance (USWHA) is pleased to announce its strong support for the recently implemented measures by the U.

S. House Appropriations Committee aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices by some hospitals across the nation. In July, the following language was included in the Appropriations Committee's Report for the Fiscal Year 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies' spending bill to ensure a more level playing field with respect to the hiring of physicians and other clinical providers: Stark Law Compliance - The Committee encourages the agency to apply the updated definitions of "commercially reasonable" and "fair market value" as established in the CMS Final Rule "Medicare Program: Modernizing and Clarifying the Physician Self-Referral Regulations" (published December 2, 2020 , and effective January 19, 2021 ).

The Committee is concerned that these key definitions, which are foundational to compliance with the Federal Physician Self-Referral Law (commonly referred to as the "Stark Law"), are not being applied during the review of certain hiring practices by hospitals. If these definitions are not properly applied, arrangements that violate the Stark Law because they are not commercially reasonable and/or not consistent with fair market value will continue to go unaddressed, increasing costs to patients and the healthcare system. "The Report language and its intended reinfor.