AMA to Congress: Don’t cut Medicare to fund farm bill

In a statement, representatives from the American Medical Association say a "sneak attack" on specialty hospitals in the farm bill will hurt patients. "Opponents of physician-owned specialty hospitals are trying to slip a provision to ban specialty hospitals into the farm bill conference report, well after the bill has been passed by both the House and Senate," said William G. Plested III, MD, AMA Immediate Past-President, in a statement. "It is bad policy to take away patients' healthcare choices by banning specialty hospitals-especially under the cover of the farm bill," he added.