New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has vetoed a bill that would have banned all noncompetes, The Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 23.

ASCs, physician groups and hospitals can provide non-monetary compensation to physicians up to an amount of $507 for the calendar year 2024, according to a Dec. 27 Lexology report. 

Cigna, which is the fourth largest insurer in the U.S. by membership size, is considering the sale of its Medicare Advantage business.

Springfield (Ill.) Clinic has reached a new agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to bring members back in the network beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

Stark law, which prohibits physicians from making referrals for many Medicare-payable services to an entity if the physician or immediate family member has a financial relationship with it, has seen a year of changes and updates to policy exceptions and statutes. 

New York lawmakers on Dec. 12 sent a bill banning noncompete agreements to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her signature, lawfirm Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart said in a Dec. 15 article in JDSupra. 

In its January proposal to ban noncompetes, the Federal Trade Commission calls the policy "a widespread and often exploitative practice that suppresses wages, hampers innovation and blocks entrepreneurs from starting new businesses."

Several major payers have faced criticism in 2023 for reimbursement and prior authorization changes within the gastroenterology space. 

Certificate-of-need laws, which govern where providers can build facilities, have been an obstacle to ASC growth for years, but many leaders are hopeful about the policy changes made in 2023. 

As operating costs continue to rise, low reimbursements weigh heavily on physicians.

Dolor Technologies has entered a settlement agreement to resolve false claims allegations relating to a device it sold to treat migraines. 

Two Little Rock, Ark.-based ASCs — Freeway Surgery Center and Centerview Surgery Center — have filed a complaint against Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Little Rock, the state's largest health insurance company, over millions of dollars in unpaid reimbursements for procedures performed during the peak of COVID-19, according to a Dec. 11 report from Arkansas Business. 

The American Medical Association has identified the insurance industry giants with the largest shares of the commercial health insurance, Medicare Advantage and public health exchange markets in 2023. 

MedPAC is urging Congress to increase Medicare pay in its 2025 payment update recommendations drafted Dec. 8. 

Amazon, CVS Health and Optum are no strangers to value-based care. Here's how they dug deeper into the model in 2023: 

Cardiac surgeons are the physician specialty with the highest average charges, according to a November report from Definitive Healthcare. 

The ASC payable list from CMS has seen sizable change in the last five years — but has it been enough to allow ASCs to thrive?

As of Dec. 1, Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health will no longer accept Blue Shield of California insurance plans. 

In November, CMS announced plans to reduce overall physician pay by 1.25% in 2024 and update the conversion factor to $32.74, a 3.4% decrease over last year, much to the chagrin of physicians and ASC leaders alike. 

ASC leaders are becoming increasingly frustrated with the reimbursement disparity between hospital outpatient departments and surgery centers.