Hospitals are fighting a Medicare payment fix that would save tax dollars

A House-passed bill would equalize what Medicare pays when certain infusions are given in a hospital with what it pays when they're given in other health care settings. The hospital lobby is fighting it ferociously in the Senate. (Eric Harkleroad/KFF Health News)

In the battle to control health care costs, hospitals are deploying their political power to protect their bottom lines.

The point of contention: For decades, Medicare has paid hospitals — including hospital-owned physician practices that may not be physically located in a hospital building — about double the rates it pays other doctors and facilities for the same services, such as mammograms, colonoscopies and blood tests.