Should government ban a butcher shop and make people buy their meat at a grocery store? Or how about banning shoe stores so you must buy shoes as a department store? Then why do politicians ban speciality hospitals? The Denver Business Journal reports:
After a lengthy wait, the Denver area’s first new physician-owned specialty hospital in several years opened for business recently.
But legislation that’s expected to be approved by Congress and President Barack Obama might mean the hospital is the last of its kind for a long time.
The Colorado Orthopaedic & Surgical Hospital, 1830 Franklin St., cleared several regulatory hurdles in getting certification to treat Medicare patients for orthopedic procedures such as hip replacements and knee replacements. The new facility will focus on orthopedic surgery, spinal procedures and pain management.
But while the owners of the new hospital tout the benefits of the physician-owned speciality concept, don’t expect to see similar sites proliferating. Congress and Obama most likely will approve new laws cracking down on future physician-owned specialty hospitals, which critics say pose a threat to the health care system.
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