MEDICARE: HCFA Rules Are Burdensome, Witnesses Testify

      Hospital administrators testified yesterday that the staff resources needed to comply with HCFA and other government agencies' regulations are "taking away from time that could be spent on patient care," Congress Daily/A.M. reports. The House Budget Committee's Task Force on Health heard from hospital administrators, who urged lawmakers to reform the health care system rather than "concentrate solely on the bottom line." Witnesses complained of the nearly 111,000 pages of Medicare regulations and the "increasingly complex" rules of the 29 different federal agencies responsible for overseeing health care facilities. Page Vaughan, executive director of Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in South Carolina, said, "The focus in Congress should be on how to reform the overall Medicare program to bring it into the 21st century, and away from persistent cutting of provider reimbursement for budget reasons unrelated to health policy" (Fulton, 5/19).