The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee yesterday held the third in a series of hearings on how to reduce health care costs, which focused on reducing administrative spending. During the hearing Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) cited the 2017 American Hospital Association report that states there are 629 different regulatory requirements from four different federal agencies that doctors, hospitals and other health care providers have to meet. These non-clinical regulatory requirements cost providers nearly $39 billion a year and divert clinicians from patient care. Hearing witness Becky Hultberg, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, told the committee this equates to $7.5 million a year or $1,200 every time a patient is admitted to an average-sized community hospital.
