JONES DEFENDS NEW HANOVER HOSPITAL AGAINST IMPACT OF DOD RULE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) was notified that the Department of Defense (DoD) will reverse a critical ruling affecting New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC) as a result of the congressman’s advocating for the hospital.  In August 2012, NHRMC joined Tricare’s Sole Community Hospital (SCH) program, which is now being phased out.  To lessen the impact of the program’s elimination, the DoD issued a rule providing that the reimbursement rate for member hospitals would not decrease more than 10 percentage points per year.  The rule further established Fiscal Year 2012 as the base year from which the allowable reduction would be calculated. 

Due to NHRMC’s unique program entry date two months prior to the end of Fiscal Year 2012, the hospital’s base rate under the rule was inaccurately low – causing an actual reduction of 44.2 percentage points in the hospital’s SCH payments beginning January 1, 2014. With Congressman Mike McIntyre (NC-7), Congressman Jones penned a letter to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Jonathan Woodson, requesting that the DoD use its authority to reverse the rule’s unintended impact on NHRMC.  Without this intervention, the rule would have cost the hospital $6.3 million in FY 2014 and $22.7 million over the course of the transition period, potentially causing NHRMC to leave the Tricare network.

“New Hanover Regional Medical Center faithfully serves the many veterans, military members, and their families who make their homes in Eastern North Carolina,” said Congressman Jones.  “I am pleased that the DoD has taken action to be sure that the agency’s recent rule will not inadvertently prevent NHRMC from continuing its work for our service members.”

Available below is the full text of both Congressman Jones' letter to Assistant Secretary Woodson and NHRMC's letter nofitying Congressman Jones of the DoD's decision.