Portland specialty hospital raises questions

A group of senators investigating the specialty hospital industry wants to know if a hospital in Oregon was allowed to open despite a moratorium on new facilities put in place in 2003. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) say CMS should not have permitted the new facility to open. HHS Sec Mike Leavitt recently conceded that the hospital in question opened and received federal funding in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments. Grassley and Baucus said they want a list of all facilities issued with Medicare provider numbers since the ban went into effect and information on all specialty hospitals under investigation for possibly having violated the terms of the moratorium.

- see this Los Angeles Times article