• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

ASCs in the news: Members of Congress express concerns to CMS about ASC payments

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, October 28, 2008

Twenty-seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives and three senators have expressed “strong concern” to CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems regarding the proposed ASC payments for 2009. Links to the letters appear on the ASC Association Web site.

The House letter states that “since ASCs and HOPDs provide identical services, we believe CMS should adopt policies that maintain the alignment between ASC and HOPD payments.” The letter says that CMS should apply OPPS relative weights directly to the ASC payment rates instead of rescaling the ASC rates.

The Senate letter states that the CMS proposal “to break the link” between OPPS and ASC payments will penalize ASCs for providing lower cost services to Medicare beneficiaries.

The letters from both houses agree that the CMS’ proposed policy is not in the best interest of the Medicare program. As the House letter states, “At a time when Medicare is struggling to contain overall costs, it does not make sense to penalize providers who are able to perform services more efficiently.”

To read the House letter, click here. To read the Senate letter, click here.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive