Medicare’s New Payment System for Ambulatory Surgery Centers – Ophthalmology Management
In November, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published its final rule including copious commentary, along with definitive payment rates, for a new payment system for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The new payment system, which is due to take effect in January, will dramatically alter how Medicare pays ASCs.
Under the current methodology, which began in 1982, Medicare pays ASCs on the basis of a fee schedule consisting of nine payment groups that range from $333 to $1,339. Although Medicare payments have not changed in recent years, there has been much discussion among policymakers about revising payment rates and methodology, but it literally took an act of Congress to make any headway. In the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), Congress directed CMS to develop and implement a new payment methodology by Jan. 1, 2008.
This article was published in Ophthalmology Management, and was written by Corcoran’s President, Kevin Corcoran, COE, CPC, CPMA, FNAO. To view the entire article, click on the link below: