219 House members push back on Medicare cut

A bipartisan majority of House lawmakers is pressing Medicare to reverse a proposed cut to hospital payments.

The Medicare agency recently proposed a 3.5 percent cut in payments to hospitals as well as a 2.9 percent adjustment to offset payments that it said are the result of changes in how come claims are filed.

But 219 House members said hospitals can't afford the cuts, and urged Medicare to reconsider the proposal.

"If the proposed rule is enacted, the net impact for hospitals would be an average decrease in inpatient payments," the lawmakers said in a letter to Medicare Administrator Don Berwick. "This is a decrease that hospitals can ill afford."

The letter says hospitals could lose more than $6 billion from the proposal. It was signed by 95 Republicans and 124 Democrats. A similar letter in the Senate garnered 45 signatures.