Medicare currently pays higher reimbursements to hospital-owned facilities compared to independent physician practices and other outpatient facilities. This creates a financial incentive for large hospital chains to merge with outpatient facilities, resulting in higher reimbursements from Medicare but at the expense of patients and taxpayers. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing "site-neutral payments," or laws that ensure all hospital-owned facilities are reimbursed at the same level as independent doctors, would save taxpayers over $117 billion in ten years and reduce premiums and cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries by $94 billion.