American Hospital Association (AHA) Executive Vice President Rick Pollack sent a letter of support to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health's draft legislation, "Protecting the Integrity of the Medicare Act" that would combat waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program. The AHA letter also noted some possible unintended consequences of the legislation and areas where additional changes could be made. The letter addressed topics such as alternative sanctions for technical noncompliance with the Stark law under Medicare, reducing improper Medicare payments and prohibition of the inclusion of Social Security account numbers on Medicare cards. "Hospitals have a strong commitment to billing correctly and appropriately, and dedicate significant resources to their compliance programs and activities," the letter stated. "While we generally support the efforts of this bill, we appreciate your seeking our input so we can identify some potential unintended consequences or areas where additional reform can be made." Letter (.pdf)