PHA says provisions will benefit big agribusiness and big healthcare monopolies.

Physician Hospitals of America on April 17 strongly criticized efforts by opponents of physician-owned hospitals to sneak provisions into a national farm bill, according to a press release published on the Web site www.physicianhospitals.org.

This is the latest effort by opponents of hospitals that are controlled and owned by physicians instead of bureaucrats and nonphysician corporations and has already drawn strong criticism from groups such as the American Medical Association, the release says.

“Our opponents are trying to sell out America’s seniors and the physicians who’ve sworn an oath to provide them the best care humanly possible,” said PHA Executive Director Molly Sandvig in the press release, “all for the benefit of big agribusiness and the big healthcare monopolies they represent.”

Sandvig added that physicians have taken the lead on healthcare and hospital reform because their patients are not being well served by a system “designed by politicians and controlled by bureaucrats.”

Senators working on the farm bill (H.R. 2419) who are also opposed to physician-owned hospitals want to use “savings” identified by the Congressional Budget Office to balance the costs of new farm programs, the release says.

“We dispute the CBO conclusions. These so-called savings are being used as an excuse to attack physicians. But even if the CBO estimate was accurate, using federal money dedicated to providing healthcare services for Medicare beneficiaries to support farm programs is outrageous,” Sandvig said. “Americans work hard to pay into Medicare to support their hospital services. Those tax dollars should not wind up in the farm program.”

PHA also urged members of Congress to be cautious of information being distributed by the various industry groups for whom the effort to close physician-owned hospitals has been undertaken.

PHA President Doug Johnson maintains that patients, physicians and staff prefer the physician-owned model over the traditional “big box” impersonal system that is so prevalent today. “We ask Congress to recognize this and allow physicians to continue to develop high-quality, cost-effective facilities that give patients a real choice where they receive their care,” he said.