Why Elon Musk Should Add Medicare Site-Neutrality To DOGE’s To-Do List
Forbes December 16, 2024
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have declared war on government bloat. They hope to use the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to axe wasteful spending and slash bureaucratic red tape that costs Americans trillions of dollars in foregone economic growth.
One of the best places to start would be the asinine rules that enable hospitals to overcharge Medicare by billions each year.
Under current law, Medicare pays significantly higher reimbursements to outpatient clinics and doctor’s offices that are owned by hospital systems—compared to independently owned facilities—for the exact same tests, treatments, and procedures.
The higher reimbursements were originally intended to compensate for the unique regulatory requirements and costs associated with maintaining a large hospital campus. And that rationale...