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Medicare reform bill fails to find support; Grassley proposes similar language

Accreditation Connection, June 13, 2008

A bill including language to revoke the unique deeming authority status held by The Joint Commission failed to find support on the Senate floor this week. It was proposed by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Committee on Finance. Meanwhile a competing Medicare reform bill, introduced by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), was introduced last week, containing similar language regarding The Joint Commission’s deeming authority.

The Joint Commission issued a June 10 statement supporting Baucus’s legislation, while proposing several amendments. The Joint Commission has requested CMS issue “modernized guidelines and procedures for assessing compliance with existing Conditions of Participation for hospitals,” according to the official statement. The accreditor also requested a two-year period to undergo the application process following the issue of those guidelines and procedures. Finally The Joint Commission proposes the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary be granted the ability to create up-to-date methodology for assessing the performance of accreditors.

Senator Grassley’s proposed Medicare reform package can be found here. A summary of Senator Baucus’ proposed legislation can be found here.

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