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Cataract procedures to see increased payments in 2008

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, August 21, 2007

Under the new ASC payment system, Medicare reimbursement for ophthalmic surgical procedures will increase, according to the Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society (OOSS).

The cataract facility fee (CPT code 66984) will increase $8 during the first year of the four-year phase-in, from $973 to $981.

In addition to cataract facility fees, the OPPS site states, "Major retina and glaucoma ASC facility fees will see increases of 106 percent, and 45 percent to 108 percent, respectively, after the new rates are fully phased in by 2011."

The four-year phase-in plan "has the effect of slowing down the rate of increases in payments for some services--cataract and vitreoretinal, for example-- but also the decreases in other services, such as the reduction in YAG payments [$312 to $216 in 2011], are feathered in over four rather than two years," says Michael A. Romansky, JD, who is counsel to the OOSS in Washington D.C..

To view a comprehensive chart of the ASC covered ophthalmic surgical procedures for 2008, click here.

For more information on the OOSS, click here.

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