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Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), chairman of the Health Subcommittee on Ways and Means, today stressed the need for Congress to reduce certain regulations on providers that “have no relationship to patient health.” 
 
The AHA has laid out actions that Congress could take to immediately reduce the regulatory burden on hospitals, health systems and the patients they serve. The proposals range from cancelling Stage 3 meaningful use requirements for electronic health records to permanently prohibiting the enforcement of direct supervision requirements in critical access and small or rural hospitals.  
 
Roskam also said that Congress is eager to hear hospital and health system leaders’ opinions on how to handle the opioid epidemic.  
 
“The institutions that you’re leading are right at the center of this, and you have a disproportionately positive influence in this debate,” Roskam said.

[For additional highlights from the AHA Annual Membership meeting, click here.] 

Roskam also addressed the issue of drug pricing, mentioning that President Trump will make an announcement in the next few days that will help “frame the debate moving forward” on the issue. 
 
“We’re not going to stay where we are,” Roskam said. “The place that we are is just completely unsatisfying.”